DUKE  LAW  LIBRARY 


L00384089W 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/juvenilecourtsys01step 


©Iff  Juumlf  dourt 

g'gHtfm  of  ICanaaB 

BY 

GEORGE  ASBURY  STEPHENS 


With  Introduction  by 

CHARLES  RICHMOND  HENDERSON 

Professor  of  Sociology  in  the 
University  of  Chicago 


Copies  of  this  booklet  may  be  obtained  at  SOcts. 
(money  order)  each  by  addressing  the  author, 
J2J2  West  Sixth  Street,  Topeka,  Kansas. 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT 
SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS 

(Submitted  to  the  University  of  Chicago  in  candidacy  for  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts) 


GEORGE  ASBURY  STEPHENS 

Teacher  of  English  and  Economics,  Topeka  High  School 


Copyright,  1906, 

By  George  Asbury  Stephens 


DEDICA  TION 


To  my  own  Father  and  Mother,  whose 
love  and  interest  have  always  been  my  inspi¬ 
ration;  to  the  fathers  and  mothers  everywhere 
whose  hearts’  love  centers  in  the  child;  and 
to  all  lovers  of  childhood  as  it  is  and  is  to  be. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Progress  in  a  movement  charged  with  vitality  is  secured  by 
the  venture  of  persons  of  insight,  energy,  and  public  spirit.  The 
price  of  pioneer  discovery  and  exploration  is  a  harvest  of  mis¬ 
takes  and  partial  failures.  This  is  not  discouraging,  for  the 
only  fatal  mistake  is  not  to  try  to  improve.  After  the  first  ten¬ 
tative  experiments,  the  next  necessity  is  comparison  of  views. 
This  can  be  done  by  oral  discussions  and  by  investigations.  The 
present  contribution  is  of  the  latter  kind.  The  author  brings 
together  the  results  of  an  honest  trial  of  the  Juvenile  Court  idea 
in  the  State  of  Kansas.  He  subjects  the  law  to  a  fair,  candid, 
and  sympathetic  examination;  he  reports  the  criticisms  of  the 
practical  people  who  were  charged  with  the  duties  of  adminis¬ 
tration.  The  result  is  a  paper  of  distinct  merit,  clearly  written, 
outspoken,  and  informing. 

The  Juvenile  Court  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  contributions 
of  America  to  the  cause  of  prevention  of  crime  and  reformation 
of  young  offenders.  It  is  based  on  sound  psychological  and  peda¬ 
gogical  principles;  but  it  will  not  succeed  without  the  sincere, 
tactful,  wise,  and  intelligent  cooperation  of  courts  and  the  general 
public.  The  present  study  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  the 
development  and  direction  of  social  interest. 

Charles  Richmond  Henderson. 

The  University  of  Chicago. 


PREFACE. 


A  thorough  investigation  of  the  juvenile  court  system  of  a 
state  as  large  as  Kansas  by  a  non-official  would  involve  no  small 
amount  of  time,  money,  and  patience.  Even  the  official,  though 
he  may  have  back  of  him  a  legalized  and  compulsory  reporting 
system,  needs  to  ensure  accuracy  by  some  independent  and 
unbiased  means  of  verifying  reports  and  of  investigating  local 
conditions  that  may  be  peculiar.  This  should  mean  a  systematic 
visitation  of  county  seats  and  an  examination  of  conditions  that 
prevail  in  country  towns,  rural  districts,  homes,  and  public 
schools.  We  lay  no  claim  in  this  brief  study  to  so  thorough  a 
cultivation  of  a  field  so  large.  We  do  believe  that  sufficient  data 
have  been  collected  to  justify  our  presentation  of  the  subject  as 
we  have  found  it,  with  some  of  our  own  generalizations  appended 
thereto. 

Of  the  raw  material  necessary  to  such  a  study  as  this  there 
are^  as  we  have  already  intimated,  three  sources:  observation, 
the  interview,  and  written  reports ;  and  it  has  been  upon  the  last 
of  these  sources  that  we  have  necessarily  had  in  large  measure 
to  rely,  though  we  have  been  in  touch  with  one  of  the  best  courts 
in  the  state,  and  have  had  a  lifelong  apprenticeship  as  a  student 
of  Kansas  institutions  and  conditions.  But  the  acquisition  of 
this  written  matter  is  by  no  means  easy  in  the  absence  of  up-to- 
date  reports.  In  fact,  no  official  reports  that  relate  directly  to 
our  subject  are  in  existence.  Of  the  courts  themselves  the  law 
does  not  require  reports  and  scarcely  any  records.  The  state 
institutions  to  which  commitments  are  made  have  no  reports 
out  that  cover  the  period  of  a  year  and  a  third  that  the  Juvenile 
Court  Act  has  been  in  operation.  The  State  Board  of  Control 
created  a  little  over  a  year  ago  for  the  management  of  the  state, 
and  the  supervision  of  the  private,  charitable  institutions  and 
associations  is  now  preparing  a  comprehensive  report  of  their 
work  for  the  past  biennium,  to  be  published  in  the  early  autumn ; 
however,  but  to  little  of  this  did  we  have  access.  Besides,  since 
its  control  over  the  courts  is  only  incidental  to  their  commit¬ 
ments,  the  report  will  probably  bear  on  our  problem  only  as  it 
concerns  state  institutions  in  relation  to  the  courts. 

Under  these  conditions  our  main  I'ecourse  was  directly  to 
the  courts  themselves  by  means  of  prepared  blanks  sent  through 


s 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  ICANSAS. 


the  mail.  Obviously,  one  could  depend  only  upon  the  interest  of 
the  judges  in  the  matter  for  replies.  The  report  could  not  be 
made  compulsory  and  while  there  was  a  disadvantage  in  that 
many  did  not  answer,  there  was  the  compensating  opportunity 
of  studying  the  judges’  interest  in  and  capability  for  the  work 
such  as  no  official,  and  therefore  to  some  extent  perfunctory, 
report  would  disclose.  We  should  certainly  show  ingratitude,  did 
we  not  take  this  oportunity  of  thanking  the  many  judges  over 
the  state  as  well  as  a  large  number  of  other  individuals  who 
have  by  report  and  by  criticism  in  letter  and  in  interview  made 
this  study  possible. 

In  addition  to  this  raw  material,  we  have  had  access  to 
general  sociological  and  juvenile  court  literature  and  to  the 
reports  and  statistics  of  the  juvenile  courts  of  other  states  and 
the  legislation  pertaining  to  the  same,  to  all  of  which  we  acknowl¬ 
edge  our  indebtedness. 

A  word  explanatory  of  the  arrangement  and  consequent 
relative  importance  of  the  divisions  of  the  subject  will  not  be 
out  of  place  here.  A  more  logical  order  of  presentation  would 
perhaps  be  an  exposition  of  the  Kansas  Juvenile  Court  Act  with 
an  examination  of  its  administration  following.  We  have 
changed  this  order  because  we  desired  to  place  the  emphasis  on 
the  Act.  Not  that  emphasis  normally  belongs  there,  for  the  law 
is  but  the  attempt  to  express  principles.  Principles  are  every¬ 
where  the  same;  but  law  and  its  administration  vary  as  a 
varying  people  comprehend  those  principles.  Nevertheless  the 
law  should  not  be  underestimated.  The  people  make  the  laws, 
but  no  less  truly  do  the  laws  make  the  people,  and  if  the  laws 
fail  to  express  principles,  they  fail  to  make  a  people  who  conform 
to  principles.  Moreover,  with  the  principles  of  the  juvenile  court 
and  its  administrative  methods,  so  far  as  they  accord  with  those 
principles,  thanks  to  a  rapidly  growing  periodical  and  book  lit¬ 
erature  on  the  subject  and  the  adoption  of  the  system  in  many 
states,  the  public  is  comparatively  familiar.  But  with  the  law, 
laymen  particularly  are  quite  likely  to  be  very  unfamiliar,  and 
since  it  must  fall  chiefly  upon  laymen  to  make  the  laws,  they 
first  of  all  should  understand  what  they  have  and  what  they 
need.  Consequently,  we  have  seemed  to  minimize  by  position 
and  extent  of  treatment  what  in  reality  is  of  prime  importance, 
only  that  we  might  call  attention  to  the  need  of  greater  efficiency 
in  that  without  which  the  most  well-meaning  official  may  be 
utterly  impotent. 


PREFACE. 


9 


Furthermore,  the  mere  investigation  of  the  Kansas  juvenile 
court  system  and  an  examination  of  the  Kansas  statutes  relating 
to  children  would  of  themselves  be  an  unprofitable  study,  if  they 
did  not  point  the  way  to  something  better;  this  is  our  apology, 
if  apology  there  need  be,  for  the  constructive  portion  of  Part  11. 
In  this  division,  as  in  Part  I,  we  lay  no  claim  to  exhaustiveness, 
attempting  merely  to  break  ground.  For  the  Kansas  lawyer 
with  humanitarian  inclinations,  no  more  fruitful  field  for  tillage 
could  be  found  than  the  codification  of  our  present  juvenile  laws 
and  their  interpretation  by  court  decisions  and  attorneys’  opin¬ 
ions,  a  study  of  the  legislation  and  resulting  systems  of  other 
states  and  countries,  and,  finally,  recommendations  consistent 
with  the  institutions  and  the  economic  and  social  conditions  of 
the  state  that  would  place  the  state  in  the  very  forefront  in  its 
treatment  of  the  generation  of  tomorrow. 

Indeed,  for  just  this  and  for  other  related  matters  quite  as 
important,  no  more  significant  office  could  be  created,  in  our 
opinion,  than  that  of  the  Children’s  Commissioner  for  the  State 
of  Kansas,  whose  duty  it  would  be  to  recommend,  and  to  work 
for  the  enactment  and  enforcement  of,  all  laws  contributing  to 
the  welfare  (physical,  intellectual,  social,  and  moral)  of  the 
state’s  children;  who  would  compile  from  the  census  returns, 
from  the  reports  of  the  Labor  Commissioner,  the  Health  Board, 
the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  the  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  the  juvenile  courts,  and  the  state  char¬ 
itable  and  educational  institutions,  and  from  the  work  of  his 
own  office,  an  annual  report  to  the  governor  in  such  an  illumin¬ 
ating  fashion  as  would  show  the  bearing  of  all  this  wealth  of 
material  now  practically  lost,  on  the  well-being  of  the  children; 
who  would  seek  to  organize  in  towns  Juvenile  Improvement 
Associations  and  everywhere  in  connection  with  juvenile  courts, 
charity  organizations,  schools,  and  churches  clubs  for  boys  and 
girls;  who  would  organize,  as  Judge  Lindsey  proposes  for  the 
nation,  the  educators  of  the  state,  ministers,  juvenile  court 
judges,  local  Juvenile  Improvement  Associations,  leaders  of 
women’s  clubs,  fathers  and  m.others,  and  all  interested  into  a 
State  Juvenile  Improvement  Association  which  would  hold  its 
meetings  annually  and  would  edit  and  publish  monthly  under 
the  direction  of  its  board  an  organ  similar  to  the  Juvenile  Advo¬ 
cate,  published  by  the  Juvenile  Improvement  Association  of 
Denver;  who  would  suggest  for  the  consideration  of  the  home, 
the  school,  the  church,  and  the  juvenile  court  all  the  best  that 


10  THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  liLYNSAS. 

modern  study  and  philanthropy  have  devised  for  the  welfare 
of  children,  to  the  end  that  these  and  other  agencies  may  be  not 
superseded  but  perfected  in  their  work;  who  would  consider  the 
social  conditions  of  our  towns  with  reference  to  children  and 
suggest  suitable  ordinances  for  their  protection  and  welfare, 
playgrounds,  parks,  gymnasiums,  home  and  school  gardening, 
and  manual  training  for  their  physical  being,  and  stationary  or 
traveling  libraries  for  their  mental  quickening;  who  would  make 
a  study  of  rural  conditions  with  the  aim  of  securing  the  cultural 
advantages  of  the  city  to  the  country  without  in  the  process 
draining  the  best  blood  of  the  country  to  the  city,  making  the 
country  not  only  the  state’s  finest  kindergarten,  but  an  attractive 
home  for  its  best  youth  by  affording  them  an  education  adapted 
to  making  agricultural  life  both  remunerative  and  enjoyable. 

Our  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  with  his 
already  multifarious  and  burdensome  duties,  cannot  undertake  a 
work  so  vast.  Moreover,  the  scope  of  labors  for  the  proposed 
Commissioner  contemplates  a  wider  field  than  the  administration 
of  a  school  system.  Such  a  position  should  command  the  very 
best  heart  and  brain  of  the  state,  an  experienced  organizer,  a 
leader,  an  educator  in  sympathetic  touch  with  childhood,  one  at 
least  conversant-  with  the  law  and  familiar  with  the  best  and 
latest  of  humanitarian  movements.  Without  any  disparagement 
of  other  offices,  such  a  one  as  I  have  suggested  would  be  quite 
as  consequential,  to  say  the  least,  as  that  filled  by  that  most 
honored  and  talented  Kansan  who  directs  the  state  how  to  grow 
the  finest  wheat  and  livestock.  But  to  grow  the  finest  children 
— why  not?  Nor  is  such  a  scheme  of  education  visionary. 
Already  the  national  government  is  on  the  eve  of  a  movement 
quite  similar  to  the  one  I  have  outlined  through  the  bill  intro¬ 
duced  by  Senator  Crane  of  Massachusetts  proposing  to  organize 
a  Children’s  Bureau  in  the  Department  of  the  Interior — virtually 
a  great  clearing  house  of  information  concerning  children.  But 
the  state  should  help  not  only  to  supply  this  material,  but  to 
make  use  of  rt  and  in  a  way  that  the  national  government  can¬ 
not,  because  of  the  state’s  closer  touch  with  the  people  through 
its  laws. 

It  is  in  the  hope  that  this  larger  work  may  be  hastened  that 
we  make  this  humble  contribution. 

G.  A.  S. 

August  31,  1906. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Introduction . 5 

Preface .  7 

Part  I. 

The  Court  and  the  Child. 

Chapter. 

I.  General  Characteristics  of  the  Court.  .  . .  13 

II.  Conditions  Prior  to  the  Kansas  Court .  17 

a.  The  State’s  Treatment  of  the  Child .  17 

b.  Agencies  Influential  in  Securing  the  Court .  18 

III.  A  Year  of  the  Court .  21 

a.  Court  Reports .  21 

b.  Pen  Pictures  of  the  Court .  34 

c.  Comments,  Commendations,  and  Criticisms .  39 

d.  The  Court’s  Cost  and  a  Comparison .  44 

Part  II. 

Tjie  Court  and  the  Law. 

Introductory  Note .  47 

I.  Present  Law  Considered . 49 

a.  Organization  of  the  Court .  49 

b.  Definitions  of  Terms .  60 

c.  Probation  Officers .  65 


12 


THE  JUVENILE  COUHT  SYSTE.M  OF  KANSAS. 


Chapter.  page 

d.  Filing  of  Complaint .  68 

e.  Issue  of  Summons  and  Hearing .  70 

f.  Probation  and  Incarceration .  71 

g.  Disposition  of  Dependent  Children .  77 

h.  Powers  of  Guardian .  89 

i.  Disposition  of  Delinquent  Children .  90 

j.  Continued  Jurisdiction  of  the  Court . 94 

k.  Exclusive  Jurisdiction  of  the  Court .  94 

l.  Appeal  to  the  District  Court . .  95 

m.  Duties  of  City  and  County  Officers .  97 

n.  Punishment  of  Delinquent  Children .  98 

0.  Liberal  Construction  of  Act  Enjoined .  98 

p.  General  Provisions .  99 

II.  Proposed  Law  Presented . 101 

Article  1.  The  Juvenile  Court . 101 

Article  11.  General  Procedure . 105 

Article  III.  Special  Procedure . 112 

a.  Juvenile  Delinquency . 112 

b.  Adult  Delinquency  Contributing  to  Juvenile  De- 

linquericy . 113 

c.  Juvenile  Dependency . 114 

d.  Adult  Delinquency  Contributing  to  Juvenile  De¬ 

pendency . 116 

Article  IV.  Detention  of  Children . 118 

Article  V.  State  Supervision  of  Child-Saving  Agen¬ 
cies.  . . 120 

Article  VI.  General  Provisions . 121 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


PART  I. 

THE  COURT  AND  THE  CHILD. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF- THE  COURT. 

A  brief  explanation  of  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of 
the  juvenile  court  system  will  prepare  the  way  for  a  study  of 
the  Kansas  court  and  the  results  attained,  reserving  for  later 
pages  what  is  peculiar  to  the  Kansas  system. 

First  of  all,  all  cases  of. juvenile  deliquency  and  most  cases 
of  juvenile  dependency  are  handled  by  one  court,  and  where 
possible,  a  court  removed  from  that  where  the  trial  of  the 
common  criminal  occurs.  All  children  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  juvenile  court  when  arrested  by  any  officer  of  the  law  must 
be  taken  before  this  court.  Children  may  be  summoned  before 
the  court  on  the  formal  complaint  of  a  citizen  of  the  county.  The 
trial  is  as  informal  as  possible.  In  many  cases  it  is  a  mere  inves¬ 
tigation  of  the  matter  by  the  judge  through  a  friendly  talk  with 
the  child  and  those  interested  in  the  case.  In  most  states  the  trial 
is  private,  unless  special  request  is  made  for  a  public  trial.  In 
some  courts  no  record  is  kept  of  many  cases,  on  the  ground  that 
a  child  should  feel  free  to  start  fresh  with  name  untainted  by 
the  stigma  of  a  court  record.  As  we  attempt  to  show  in  a  sub¬ 
sequent  discussion  this  object  need  not  be  inconsistent  with  the 
keeping  of  a  public  record  of  all  the  essential  details  of  a 
delinquent  case  except  the  name,  for  the  purpose  of  statistics. 

The  probation  system  did  not  originate  with  the  juvenile 
court,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  no  other  court  has  this  method 
of  saving  to  society  one  of  its  members  been  so  successful  and 
come  to  such  perfection  as  in  the  juvenile  court.  Of  course,  the 
method  has  in  this  court  advantages  that  it  cannot  have  where 
older  people  are  involved.  There  is  usually  greater  stability  in 


14 


THE  Jm'ENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


the  home  life  of  the  child  which  gives  the  parole  system  a  greater 
chance  of  success.  The  child  is  more  easily  restrained  by  a  fear 
of  punishment  than  the  adult  hardened  by  punishment.  And 
the  plastic  nature  of  the  child  is  more  susceptible  to  the  reform¬ 
ative  influences  set  in  motion  by  the  court  than  is  adult  char¬ 
acter  flxed  by  years  of  habit.  No  one  can  fail  to  see  what  real 
advantages  over  the  old  method  of  imprisonment  accrue  to  all 
society  from  this  method  of  handling  both  juvenile  and  adult 
offenders  where  there  is  even  a  moderate  degree  of  success.  The 
individual  himself  is  more  often  saved.  Imprisonment  because 
of  its  pernicious  influences  and  because  of  its  tendency  to  destroy 
self-respect,  rarely,  almost  never,  effects  a  cure.  The  probation¬ 
er’s  response  to  a  society  that  seems  to  be  seeking  his  good  rather 
than  merely  its  own  protection  is  markedly  in  contrast  with  that 
of  the  incarcerated  criminal.  There  is  the  economic  advantage 
of  productivity  continuing  at  a  small  expense  to  society,  over  a 
predatory  life  at  large  or  the  hunted  and  confined  life  at  a  great 
cost  to  society.  And  the  social  reaction  from  the  attempt  to  re¬ 
claim  by  befriending  rather  than  merely  to  protect  by  confining 
or  destroying  is  a  helpful  one. 

With  adults,  where  the  probation  system  is  employed,  it  is 
in  conjunction  with  the  jail.  But  one  of  the  cardinal  principles 
of  the  juvenile  court  system,  albeit  strange  to  say,  it  is  not  fully 
recognized  by  some  of  the  state  laws  back  of  the  system,  is  that 
the  child  shall  never  be  placed  in  a  jail.  Not  that  incarceration 
is  intrinsically  wrong,  but  that  the  criminal  influences  of  the 
jail  are  destructive  of  character  and  that  the  jail  method,  so  com¬ 
monly  prevailing,  of  treating  offenders  like  penned  wild  beasts 
instead  of  erring  individuals  for  whom  and  for  whose  errors 
society  itself  is  in  part  responsible,  utterly  fails  as  either  a  cur¬ 
ative  or  a  preventive  measure.  Judge  Lindsey  says :  “To  reform 
a  child  by  starting  with  putting  it  in  jail  is  like  trying  to  cure 
it  of  illness  by  first  depositing  it  upon  the  city  garbage  dump. 
An  experienced  jail  official  once  declared  that  the  city  jails  for 
children  were  toboggan  slides  straight  into  hell.”  If  this  be  true 
the  juvenile  court  system  is  right  in  outlawing  the  common  jail 
for  children  as  a  place,  both  of  detention  before  trial  and  of 
punishment  after,  and  if  probation  fails,  as  it  rarely  does  with 
efficient  judges  and  officers,  incarceration  under  rigorous  dis¬ 
cipline  but  with  conditions  otherwise  like  the  well-ordered  home 
should  follow. 

In  brief,  no  words  could  better  summarize  what  the  juvenile 


GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  COURT. 


15 


court  system  stands  for  than  these  taken  from  an  anonymous 
writer  in  a  newspaper,  remembering  meanwhile  that  the  proper 
care  of  a  dependent  child  almost  invariably  means  the  preven¬ 
tion  of  delinquency:  “The  spirit  and  intent  of  the  law  is  to 
give  the  deserving  boy  or  girl  a  chance  to  rise  from  mistakes 
and  to  turn  the  misdirected  energy  of  the  vicious  into  healthful 
and  preventive  channels.  The  true  object  of  punishment  is  not 
to  hurt,  but  to  amend;  not  to  humiliate,  but  to  teach  a  better 
way.  The  birthright  of  happiness  and  morality  is  not  given  to 
all  children  alike,  and  no  child  is  to  blame  for  that  which  nature 
and  environment  have  withheld.  When  these  little  ones  fall 
under  temptation  are  they  not  entitled  to  a  fair  chance  to  try 
again?  Is  it  not  worth  while  to  keep  them  from  evil  influences 
and  criminal  surroundings,  and  to  train  them  toward  useful 
citizenship?  Every  child  saved  from  crime  is  a  direct  gain  to 
the  nation,  and  in  every  child  is  the  possibility  of  a  good  citizen.” 


CHAPTER  II. 


CONDITIONS  PRIOR  TO  THE  KANSAS  COURT. 

a.  The  State’s  Treatment  of  the  Child. 

In  Kansas,  children  of  the  delinquent  and  dependent  classes 
have  always  had  the  same  average  care  that  other  states  have 
given  them,  perhaps  neither  better  nor  worse.  Before  the  enact¬ 
ment  of  the  Juvenile  Court  Act  the  neglect  of  the  state  for  these 
classes  was  that  of  other  states  before  the  passage  of  similar 
laws.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  Kansas  had  laws  on  her  statute 
books  for  the  care  of  delinquent  children  long  before  the  Juvenile 
Court  Act  was  passed,  it  was  common  for  children  of  tender 
years  to  be  arrested  for  crime  like  grown-ups,  thrust  in  any 
sort  of  prison  while  waiting  trial,  tried  in  the  criminal  court 
under  criminal  procedure  when  the  offense  charged  was  crime, 
convicted  and  sentenced  as  would  be  the  man  of  mature  years 
except  that  the  sentence  might  not  be  to  hard  labor,  and  both 
before  and  after  trial  to  be  associated  with  the  worst  of  crim¬ 
inals.  The  State  Industrial  Schools  could  not  care  for  all  juvenile 
offenders  and  many  convicted  of  more  serious  offenses  as  well  as 
those  convicted  of  petty  offenses  were  placed  in  jail  with  con¬ 
firmed  criminals.  Children  might  be  in  jail  for  days  or  weeks 
with  no  one  to  mother  them,  no  teacher  to  properly  train  their 
minds,  no  religious  instructor  to  give  them  moral  and  religious 
instruction,  no  books  to  entertain  and  instruct.  Their  only 
teacher  was  a  criminal  associate  and  prisons  became  schools  of 
vice  and  crime.  It  is  true  that  some  cities  provided  in  the 
city  jail  a  ward  for  women  and  children  with  a  police  matron; 
but  this  was  for  only  the  half  dozen  or  so  of  first  class 
cities  and  for  city,  not  county  jails.  It  is  true  also  that  the  law 
of  1901  prohibited  the  association  of  children  with  criminals 
before  the  trial  of  the  former;  but  as  we  shall  see,  the  law  was 
inoperative. 

The  writer  remembers  visiting,  a  year  or  two  previous  to 
the  enactment  of  the  Juvenile  Court  Act,  a  school  boy  of  per¬ 
haps  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  of  age  who  was  waiting  trial 
for  burglary  in  a  Kansas  county  jail.  For  six  weeks  or  more, 
until  the  convening  of  the  district  court,  the  boy  was  confined 


IS 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


in  the  common  cell  of  the  criminal,  every  influence  of  which 
was  criminal  and  every  tendency  of  which  was  to  harden.  The 
boy  was  defiant.  Society  as  it  seemed  to  him  was  his  enemy. 
The  little  fellow’s  manhood,  which  if  it  had  been  properly 
directed  would  have  been  the  making  of  a  fine  man,  asserted 
itself  driving  eveiy  particle  of  grit  and  independence  to  the 
surface,  steeling  him  against  society.  It  could  have  been  little 
worse  from  any  standpoint  considered,  that  of  child,  family, 
society,  present,  future,  economic  or  moral  consideration  to  leave 
the  child  in  society  with  chances  for  some  saving  influences  to 
reach  him  than  to  place  him  beyond  the  help  of  ennobling  influ¬ 
ences,  with  crime  as  his  only  outlook.  The  olfense  charged,  a 
serious  one,  for  an  adult  a  felony,  called  for  safe  detention  per¬ 
haps.  But  it  was  this  child’s  right,  generally  recognized  today, 
to  be  confined  within  a  circle  not  only  of  uncorrupting  but  of 
uplifting  influences,  to  have  a  speedy  trial,  to  be  unbranded  as  a 
criminal  whatever  the  charge  and  whatever  the  outcome  of  the 
trial,  and  if  shown  to  be  a  menace  to  society  to  be  detained,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  home  influences,  with  special  treatment  and  educa¬ 
tion  as  would  be  given  a  defective. 

The  dependent  child  was  better  cared  for  under  the  law  of 
1901,  but  there  was,  and  even  yet  is,  much  to  be  desired  as  we 
shall  better  see  from  an  examination  of  the  law. 

h.  Agencies  Influential  in  Securing  the  Court. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  some  of  the  influences  and  agencies 
that  were  working  for  a  change  in  Kansas  in  its  treatment  of 
juvenile  offenders  and  dependents.  The  Kansas  Society  for  the 
Friendless  from  its  very  inception  was  an  active  exponent  of 
the  juvenile  court  system.  At  its  first  annual  meeting,  held  at 
Topeka  in  1902,  Governor  Stanley,  a  careful  student  of  the  pre¬ 
vention  and  cure  of  crime,  made  an  able  address  in  which  he 
advocated  a  more  enlightened  and  successful  method  of  handling 
juvenile  offenders.  In  1904,  the  same  society  held  its  third 
annual  meeting.  At  the  opening  session.  Judge  T.  F.  Garver,  the 
president  of  the  society,  made  a  strong  plea  for  the  enactment  of 
a  juvenile  court  law  by  the  next  legislature.  Judge  Lindsey,  of 
the  juvenile  court  of  Denver,  made  the  principal  address  of  the 
evening,  in  which  he  outlined  the  characteristic  features  of  the 
law  and  its  administration  in  Denver.  Judge  Lindsey’s  signal 


CONDITIONS  PRIOR  TO  THE  KANSAS  COURT. 


19 


success  with  the  court  and  his  happy  manner  of  describing  his 
work  always  make  converts  to  the  juvenile  court  idea. 

The  State  Society  of  Labor  and  Imfustry  wielded  a  strong 
influence  for  the  passage  of  the  law ;  the  newspapers  propagated 
and  spread  the  idea ;  but  probably  no  other  one  factor,  not  except¬ 
ing  even  the  newspapers,  did  so  much  to  create  a  sympathy 
for  and  an  interest  in  the  movement  as  the  Kansas  Women’s 
Federation  of  Clubs,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  Cora  G.  Lewis, 
the  president,  now  one  of  the  two  official  visitors  of  the  State 
Institutions  under  the  Board  of  Control.  Consequently,  the 
ground  was  pretty  well  broken  when  Governor  Hoch,  in  his 
message  to  the  legislature,  expressed  his  own  views  and  the 
sentiment  of  the  state  as  favorable  to  a  juvenile  court  system, 
and  recommended  that  body  to  take  some  action.  Professor  F. 
W.  Blackmar,  of  the  Department  of  Sociology  in  the  University 
of  Kansas,  framed  the  bill  after  the  Illinois  and  Colorado  laws, 
and  it  was  introduced  in  the  House  by  Representative  J.  L.  Brady 
of  Lawrence,  and  passed  the  legislature  with  little  alteration, 
going  into  elfect  March  18,  1905. 


u,.- 


r**'  * 


'-.i 


■■-''H'  ',  <!>.-(,  ■  t.'  ■>.%  V  '.v 


V 


V. -v; 


■':«■  „  ■'_  , '''  •■  ' "’  'F  '■'"'■'F 

.  . , 

■>  .  f‘'' 'i"  i'  ■■■>■-  '■-: 


CHAPTER  HI. 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 
a.  Court  Reports. 

As  a  basis  for  study,  the  answers  to  the  following  questions 
sent  to  each  of  the  one  hundred  and  five  judges  of  the  state  were 
used.  Answers  from  sixty-six  judges,  or  about  sixty-three  per 
cent,  were  received.  A  copy  of  the  letter  and  blank  as  sent  out 
is  appended: 


Topeka,  Kansas,  June  12,  1906. 
Judge  of  the  Juvenile  Court: 

Being  a  student  of  Sociology  in  the  University  of  Chicago 
and  writing  a  Master’s  thesis  on  the  subject,  “The  Juvenile 
Court  and  its  Administration  in  Kansas,”  I  should  very  much 
like  to  have  answers  to  the  accompanying  questions  which  I  am 
sending  to  each  Juvenile  Court  Judge  in  the  State.  Judge  Hay¬ 
den,  of  this  city,  has  taken  up  the  matter  with  me  and  is  giving 
all  possible  assistance.  The  results  will  be  collated  and  furnished 
each  judge  on  application. 

An  early  response  is  very  desirable. 

Sincerely  yours, 

G.  A.  Stephens. 

1.  Have  you  found  a  real  need  for  such  a  law  as  the  Juve¬ 
nile  Court  Law? 

2.  What  changes  in  the  present  law  for  its  more  effective 
administration  would  you  suggest? 

3.  Would  you  suggest  the  enactment  of  any  other  law  as 
a  support  to  this  one,  as,  for  instance,  an  adult  delinquency  law, 
making  adults  responsible  for  the  delinquency  of  children,  or  a 
law  compelling  parents  to  support  delinquents? 

4.  Have  you  found  need  of  a  “detention  home”  in  your 
county? 

5.  Should  there  be  annual  reports  required  of  the  Juvenile 
Court? 


22 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KjUSTSAS. 


6.  Do  the  added  duties  of  the  Juvenile  Court  make  the  pro¬ 
bate  judge’s  duties  too  burdensome? 

7.  (a)  Do  you  experience  difficulty  in  getting  the  right 
kind  of  probation  officers? 

(b)  What  improvement  in  this  phase  of  the  law  or  its 
administration  would  you  suggest? 

8.  (a)  What  special  methods  of  work  not  prescribed  in  the 
law  have  you  found  helpful? 

(b)  Have  you  a  Juvenile  Improvement  Association  or 
Juvenile  Club? 

9.  (a)  Would  you  suggest  any  other  child-saving  societies? 
(b)  What  improvement  in  these  societies  would  you 

suggest? 

10.  (a)  How  many  delinquent  boys  have  there  been  before 
your  court  up  to  June  1st? 

(b)  How  many  delinquent  girls? 

(c)  How  many  boys  sent  to  the  State  Industrial 

School? 

(d)  How  many  girls  sent  to  the  Girls’  School  at  Beloit? 

(e)  How  many  dependent  and  neglected  children  be¬ 
fore  your  court? 

(f)  How  many  placed  in  homes? 

(g)  How  many  in  Orphans’  Homes? 

(h)  What  were  the  causes  and  the  number  of  cases  for 
each  cause,  for  the  appearance  of  the  delinquent  children  before 
your  court? 

11.  Further  remarks: 

Name : 

City: 

County : 

For  questions  that  can  be  answered  by  “yes”  or  “no”  or  by 
figures,  the  tabulation  below  has  been  prepared.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  not  all  judges  who  sent  in  replies  answered 
all  the  questions.  In  such  cases  the  reader  is  left  to  his  own  in- 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COL'RT. 


23 


ference.  Where  no  answer,  however,  under  any  part  of  ques¬ 
tion  ten  is  given,  zero  would  in  most  cases  be  the  correct  one. 
While  with  some  answers  there  are  modifications  or  comment, 
the  general  tenor  of  the  reply  is  as  indicated  by  the  “yes” 
“no.”  In  the  column  following  that  for  the  names  of  counties 
reporting,  the  population  for  each  county  as  found  in  the  state 
census  for  1905  is  given.  The  figures  at  the  head  of  the  five  suc¬ 
ceeding  double  columns  and  in  the  second  line  of  each  of  the 
remaining  columns  but  two,  refer  to  the  correspondingly  num¬ 
bered  questions  of  the  blank  sent  out.  In  the  third  column  under 
“Delinquents”  the  number  of  delinquents  appearing  before  the 
court  for  each  thousand  of  the  county’s  population  is  given,  and 
in  the  sixth  column  may  be  found  the  per  cent  of  delinquents 
appearing  before  the  court  committed  to  the  State  Industrial 
Schools.  Counttes  marked  *  are  located  in  the  western  half 
of  the  state. 


24 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


1  DEPENDENTS 

No.  to 
Or¬ 
phans’ 
Homes 

CT^  o O Oi  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O O  O  O  O  O  O  O  tH  o  O  O  Q  -o  • 

1  lOf 

No,  to 
Family 
Homes 

M  •  (N  rH  lO  O  O  O  O  O  O  eH  O  O  CO  O  1-1  rH  .-H  sq  O  O  O  05  O  O  ■  O 

lOe 

No. 

Before 

Court 

^O«MCt^05OT-IOOOi-iO  -OOt-Ot-OOOiMOr-lCOasiMOOtOCO 

1  DELINQUENTS  | 

Pr.Ct. 

Com- 

mitt’d 

coGOlOO  *LOO  -Kt)  •  -T-Hir:)  -oio  *o  *  -oo  -cdooq  ’co  -co 

t-H  (N  (M  '(MO  •  <M  •  -COiM  ■  lO  •  •  •  -T-l  o  •  CC  •  <M 

.  ^  .  .  ...  ^  .  . 

lOd  1 

No. 

Girls 

Com¬ 

mitted 

iOMOOOMOOt-HOOOOOOCCOOOOOOOOOOtHO  -OCM 

10c  1 

No. 

Boys 

Com¬ 

mitted 

TH(MMC:(^t0T-l0000t^T-^00(M0000000TH00(M0TH0T^^ 

Per 

1000 

Pop, 

OOiMl^  -T— 1  -lOCO  *00  ■lOO(M=  '’(£)  coco  a  -lO  'lO 

ic IC  t-H  •  CC  O  •  CQ  •'tHM  •  CC  •  t-H  05  ^  •  CC  r-l  (M  t-I  -00  •  t- 

t-H  ......  .  .  . 

lOb  1 

Girls 

OCCCCOO'^OOlMOO"?^^OOO^OOOOOr^OOOOr^OOOLO 

a 

o 

t-4 

Boys 

hCt-hiCt-h  •  ^  tH  O  (M  O  O  00  Tti  O  tH  lO  O  CD  O  iH  ir- ^  O  O)  CC (M  O  CC  O  go 

CC  T— 1  •  tH  T— 1  T— 1 

Cg 

NO 

T^  T“I  •  T— i  T— 1  T— 1  T— 1  ....  ^  •  I-H  ^  ^  1—1  .  1—1  1— j  1— j  -  1— j  1— I  1— (  1—1  1—4  1— I  .  1— i 

YES 

■  •  T— 1  ....  1— j  ^  .  1—1  .  1—1  .  1—1 .  .  . 

CD 

NO 

I— (  T — 1  1 — 1  1 — I  T— 1  T— 1  rH  1 — 1  I — 1  •  1 — 1  T— 1  1 — 1  ■  t'H  1 — 1  1 — 1  1 — 1  T— 1  tH  tH  tH  •  t-H  t— i  t— 1  i — 1  ■  i-H  •  t-H 

YES 

»o 

NO 

YES 

t-H  t-H  •  rH  rH  i — 1  i-H  t-H  ■  i-H  •  t-H  ■  t— 1  rH  i — I . rH  t — I  t-H  i — (  •  i — 1 

'stH 

NO 

•  *  1 — 1  ■  •  ‘I — 1  I-H  ■  rH  -I — 1  ■  1 — 1  •  1 — 1  t-H  •  i — !  •  i — I  t— i  t — 1  i-H  rH  i-H 

YES 

1 — 1  t-H  •  •  t-H  1 — 1  •  rH  ■  i-H  I-H  ■  i-H  ■  i — 1  •  i — 1  tH . i — 1 

NO  1 . .  iH  rH  •  •  1 — 1  '  •  1-H  *  rH  •  •  i— 1  ....  .  .  , — | 

YKS  |i — !i— It — 1  -T— li— 1  ■  -T— 1  •  *1 — It— <  *1 — (t— i  i — I  •  't-Hi— I  -i— It— li — It— 1  -t— 1  -i — 1 

Pop. 

1905 

O<:Dt^'^'MC5M'^l^CCCCrHTt<rHC0MCCC^l'-OrH05O'^'^C^00  00iO'^ir: 
rHlM'^'T^^r^^rt^T— |rJ10CD'^l-'(M(MOt^irO'^OrHIr-(M05t^T-HOOOOrHMM^ 
M  O  rH  o  OO^r^^^CC  00^  (M  l''00(MrHCC^rHCCCDCC'^  rH^Oi  lO  CD  rH^CC  0^(M  LC^CC^CC 

Ci  o**  O  CD*  O*  oi  iO  M*  00*  I-H  rH*  00*  '^*  O*  O*  rH*  CC*  lO  CD*  t-*  rH*  M*  lO  CD*  t-*  CD*  rH*  CC*  (M*  o' 

M  CC  rH  M  (M  I-H  I— I  t-H  M  t-H  rH  t-H  rH  t— 1  i-H  rH  CC 

«  0 

County 

Allen  .  . 

Atchison-  . 

■*Barton . 

■*Barber . 

Brown  . 

Butler . 

Coffey . 

■*Cheyenne . 

Cloud  . 

*Comanche . 

*Clark . 

Crawford . 

Doniphan . 

■*Ellis  - . 

Ellsworth . 

Franklin . 

■*Gove . 

Greenwood . 

■*Grant . 

*Graham . 

Harvey . 

Harper . ' . 

*Hodgeman . 

Jackson . 

Jefferson . 

Jewell . 

lohnson . 

■*Kearney . 

*Kiowa . 

*Lane . 

Labette . 

A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 


25 


OOO  OCOO  OrHO  OOOOOO  -Oi-HO 


OOO'^lOO'NrHC 


O’^OC'l  -COOCt^i-iC 


O  •  Q  ID  •  1— 1  lD  O  ■  O  O  05  t"  ^  X  Q  O  CO  n  o  o  o 

•  *  01  •  O  (M  •  X  •  •  X  O  ID  O 

•  1— (  •  •  •  •  •  iH  rH 

O  •  ’•  O  O  O  CD  ’ 
ID  •  •  CD  • 

o 

rH 

ID 

CO 

OOOO  -OG^Ii-iOOOOT-iOrHOOOlr^rHiDCOO  ’O'OOOIOOOOOO  • 

. 

0004  01  -OCDOOOOOOOOlOOCOrHOOLDrH  -OOOCOOOOOOOl  • 

rH 

'H' 

CD 

05  -XXLD  •C0O5O5  .t-X'rH  -CD  •  •04'^(M05CDX  -ID  05 

rH  •  O  CO  05  iD  rH  o  •  Ol  05  O  •  LD  •  •  rH  D1  05  Ol  •  Hji  rH 

•  nH  •  •  •  'H^ 

05  i  -CD  CD  rH  CD 

CO  •  •  rH  •  CD  CO  CD 

•  •  rH 

t— 

05 

rH  o  O  •  ID  O  CD  rH  rH  o  O  O  CO  O  CO  •  O  rH  rH  CD  O  O  O  O  O 
.  .  -H  CD 

04  O  O  O  O  •  O 
•  rH 

: 

ITS  1 

rHO«MCO'X>CL'-C^OOO'MCOOiC 


OOir^rHOL^i-HOL^'MOXOOT-lOrHCC^  jOi 

Oi  r-l  tH  CD 

rH  DQ  t-H  t'- 


t-  C'l  -TtH  Oi  ^  LO  CD  lO  CO  CO  D1  LO  ID  X  “M  CD  O  1— <  to  CD  CD  O  I'*  5"1  CC 

IrHi— ICDlDX»OCOXiOCDCD-^COCOXl-‘^t'-'r*<:DCDl-'^Oi— <»-»COOXC: 
{N  Oi  05  lOi  (M  01^0  CDCOi-H(MX-t<^»-HO  05  ri  X  lO  >0^iO  CO^CO 

o" 05*  0-1  o’  r-T  o  o”  Lo"  O'!  5^1  o' CD" CD" if:  o" CO*  X* o" iO  CO’ uo" o"  ID  ^ ci t-T  ^  t-H  05" 

1— ii— (M!Mi— I  DlrHt— I  r-<T— (  COr-H  LOLO  i— irH  (M  rH  05 


o  p 

U  • 


•;3g 


2-s  g- 

^  J-  « 
cd  .Di 


c  o 
o  ^ 


cd 

^  c 
cd  o 


a;  h*  ^  ;x 

KA  O  ^ 


SS2 

* 


05  5>4  o 

^  cd  -D 

05  05 


C 

o 

^  05  cd  ^ 

4;  ^  .5 

C  'O  cd  • 


4;  s 


—  —  —  -  O  J*^05  54^  u 

----  - 

?;2i^OOOa.CHpHa;fi::p5P<tfliX!tfl 

:4;  ^  He  ^  ^  ^  *:!( 


cd 

U  '*■' 

4^  O 

35  c?5 

«  * 


'O  S 

o2 

ts  C 

cd  cd 

X  X 

♦  # 


s§ 


XH 


C  Cd 
4^  Cd 


cd  .X 


05  'U 

03  C 
O  cd 
O 

>> 


2C 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


Before  analyzing  the  report,  let  us,  briefly  as  we  may,  examine 
the  distribution  of  the  population  of  the  state.  The  state  cen¬ 
sus  of  1905  gave  Kansas  a  total  of  1,544,968.  Of  the  105  coun¬ 
ties  there  are  46  lying  wholly  west  of  the  median  line.  This 
line,  however,  runs  west  of  the  median  line  of  each  of  the  eight 
counties  through  which  the  former  line  cuts.  These  46  coun¬ 
ties,  therefore,  comprise  nearly  half  of  the  state,  but  contain  a 
population  of  only  229,139,  or  slightly  more  than  one-sixth  of 
the  total  for  the  state  and  an  average  for  each  county  of  4,981. 
In  the  remaining  59  counties,  the  eastern  half  of  the  state,  there 
is  a  population  of  1,315,829,  nearly  flve-sixths  of  the  total  for 
the  state  and  an  average  for  each  county  of  22,302.  Of  the  66 
counties  reporting,  30  of  them  lie  in  the  western  half.  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  the  report  represents  an  almost  perfect  dis¬ 
tribution  of  counties  throughout  the  state,  the  thinly  populated 
as  well  as  the  more  densely.  This  is  further  shown  in  the  fact 
that  while  63%  of  the  counties  are  represented  in  the  report, 
,  65%  of  the  state’s  population  is  represented. 

But  so  far  in  the  experience  of  the  juvenile  court  the  problem 
has  been  one  of  towns  rather  than  of  the  country.  Let  us  notice 
the  size  of  the  towns  throughout  the  state.  Taking  the  census 
figures  for  1905  again  there  will  be  found  49  towns  in  the  state 
having  a  population  above  2,500.  Of  these  only  two.  Great 
Bend  and  Dodge  City,  are  in  the  western  half.  There  are  70 
counties  in  the  state  with  no  towns  above  2,500,  and  44  of  these 
are  in  the  western  half. 

The  scattered  population,  the  small  towns,  and  the  rural 
character  of  a  large  part  of  the  people  in  the  western  half  of 
the  state  are  given  as  the  chief  reasons  why  there  is  so  “little 
doing,”  in  the  vernacular  of  many  of  the  reports,  in  the  juvenile 
courts  of  many  of  these  western  counties.  Of  the  twenty  who 
report  that  they  have  found  no  need  of  the  juvenile  court,  six¬ 
teen  are  judges  in  western  counties.  On  the  other  hand,  nine 
out  of  thirty  western  judges  claim  to  have  found  need  of  the 
court,  a  creditable  showing  on  the  face,  but  their  reports  farther 
on,  it  must  be  confessed,  hardly  bear  them  out.  Of  the  five  who 
gave  no  answers  to  this  question  every  one  is  from  a  western 
county,  and  if  their  reports  be  scanned  it  will  be  discovered  that 
they  found  little  use  for  the  court.  Virtually  twenty-one  out  of 
twenty-five  judges  reporting  they  have  found  no  need  of  the 
court  are  of  western  counties,  while  many  of  the  remaining  nine 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 


27 


had  little  or  nothing  to  report.  This  does  not  argue  any  hos¬ 
tility  to  the  law  on  their  part  for  a  large  number  expressed  them¬ 
selves  as  favorable  to  it ;  they  simply  found  no  need  of  the  court. 
Of  the  forty-one  who  have  found  a  need  of  the  court,  thirty- 
two  are  judges  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  state,  i.  e.,  thirty-two 
out  of  thirty-six  judges  in  the  eastern  half  were  able  to  use  the 
court  to  good  advantage.  One  of  the  remaining  four,  the  Reno 
County  judge,  seems  to  have  been  able  to  put  the  court  to  good 
use,  despite  his  protestations.  On  the  whole,  that  forty-one  out 
of  sixty-six  judges,  for  the  most  part  inexperienced  in  this  new 
work,  should  be  able  to  use  the  new  system  at  once,  makes  a 
fairly  satisfactory  showing  for  the  first  year. 

Of  the  fifty-eight  answering  question  four,  twenty-seven 
found  need  of  a  “detention  home”  in  their  counties — a  very 
strong  argument  for  such  an  institution  when  it  is  taken  into 
account  how  many  of  the  counties  had  practically  no  cases  the 
first  year  and  of  the  thirty-one  who  had  found  no  need  of  it  many 
were  favorable  towards  it  where  it  might  be  needed. 

Of  fifty-three  answering  question  five,  thirty-five  expressed 
the  opinion  that  annual  reports  should  be  required  of  the  judges. 
Such  a  report  is  encouraging  to  the  student  and  should  be  to 
an  interested  public. 

Sixty-one  answered  question  six,  and  all  but  four  have  not 
found  the  additional  duties  of  the  juvenile  court  too  burden¬ 
some.  An  examination  of  the  cases  reported  by  these  four  will 
cause  the  suspicion  that  irony  may  have  been  used. 

Only  twelve  out  of  fifty-three  have  found  difficulty  in  get¬ 
ting  the  right  kind  of  probation  officers.  This  showing,  how¬ 
ever,  is  not  so  good  as  it  looks.  Very  many  courts  had  little 
or  no  need  of  officers  and  others  quite  probably  who  needed  good 
officers  lacked,  in  their  inexperience,  an  appreciation  of  what  a 
really  capable  and  efficient  officer  is.  On  the  other  hand  there 
are  certainly  in  a  few  of  the  courts  some  of  the  best  officers 
to  be  found  anywhere.  The  duties  of  the  officer  are,  if  any¬ 
thing,  of  greater  consequence  than  those  of  the  judge,  and  if 
Kansas  had  a  hundred  equal  to  her  best  who  could  be  on  con¬ 
stant  duty  each  throughout  his  county,  the  child  problem  in 
Kansas  would  be  well  along  towards  a  solution,  and  incidentally 
the  judge  problem  would  soon  be  settled,  too. 

In  column  10a  is  given  the  number  of  delinquent  boys  that 
have  been  before  the  court  from  March  18,  1905,  when  the  law 


28 


THE  JUVENILE  COUKT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


went  into  effect,  to  June  1,  1906,  and  in  column  10b  the  number 
of  delinquent  girls.  In  the  next  column  the  number  of  delinquent 
boys  and  girls  before  the  court  per  thousand  of  the  county’s 
population  is  shown.  For  example,  Sumner  County  has  a  pop¬ 
ulation  of  25,546;  her  delinquent  children  appearing  before  the 
court  numbered  ten;  consequently,  for  each  thousand  inhab¬ 
itants  of  the  county  less  than  one  child,  to  be  exact,  .39,  was 
called  before  the  court.  This  gives  us  a  basis  for  comparison 
of  counties.  It  will  be  noted  again  that  the  thinly  populated 
counties  and  the  counties  with  the  small  towns,  generally  speak¬ 
ing  the  western  counties,  have  the  fewest  cases  per  thousand 
inhabitants,  though  there  are  a  few  marked  exceptions.  Marion 
county  is  one  out  of  several  such  exceptions.  It  may  be  claimed 
that  the  fewest  cases  per  thousand  jnake  the  best  showing, 
but  such  a  claim  may  be  admitted  only  on  certain  conditions. 
No  one  will  deny  that  where  delinquency  actually  exists  the 
community  is  worse  off  that  fails  to  look  after  it  than  the  one 
that  takes  care  of  it.  If  the  number  of  cases  per  thousand  of 
population  given  represented  the  actual  cases  in  the  county,  the 
fewer  the  better. 

The  three  reasons  mentioned  above  for  fewer  cases  in  the 
western  part  of  the  state  than  in  the  eastern  are  no  doubt  good. 
But  they  are  not  sufficient  for  basing  the  claim  that  no  cases 
of  delinquency  exist  in  the  county  such  as  should  be  cared  for 
by  the  court.  In  the  rural  districts  there  is  perhaps  less  wrong 
doing  among  children  per  capita  than  in  the  city  (though  this 
may  be  questioned),  not  because  the  children  are  naturally 
better,  but  because,  first,  there  is  less  idleness,  and  second,  less 
close  association  and  therefore  less  chance  for  a  certain  kind 
of  delinquency,  and  yet  from  a  considerable  observation  of 
countryside  child  life  the  cases  of  truancy  and  incorrigibility  in 
the  country  school  are  many  and  the  meannesses  practiced  in 
the  home,  when  boys  get  together,  and  when  they  go  to  town, 
are  numerous  and  often  are  the  first  steps  to  more  serious 
wrong  doing.  The  most  of  these  cases  are  never  brought  to 
light.  The  home  never  hears  of  them,  or  if  it  does,  as  it  often 
must  in  cases  of  delinquency  in  the  school,  is  powerless  to  effect 
a  change.  The  juvenile  court  system,  as  at  present  it  is  being 
managed  in  many  counties,  is  perfectly  impotent.  If  the  courts 
had  the  confidence  of  the  schools  throughout  the  county,  if  court 
and  county  superintendents  and  teachers  were  all  doing  their 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 


29 


duty,  there  could  scarcely  be  a  court  in  the  state  but  would  have 
some  delinquency  cases  from  the  schools. 

But  so  far,  we  have  been  considering  only  the  country.  Even 
the  western  counties  have  many  little  villages,  ranging  in  pop¬ 
ulation  from  a  few  hundred  to  one  or  two  thousand.  In  these 
the  per  cent  of  wrong  doing  among  children  is  higher  than  in 
the  city  and  especially  the  city  as  it  is  known  in  Kansas.  The 
advantages  in  these  small  towns,  such  as  school  and  library 
facilities,  play  grounds,  protected  streets,  and  good  homes,  are 
little  better  than  in  the  country,  and  much  poorer  than  in  the 
city,  while  the  temptations,  the  chances  for  evil  through  idle¬ 
ness,  loafing  and  bad  associations  are  much  greater  in  the 
village  than  in  the  country,  and  probably  than  in  the  city.  From 
our  own  experiences  as  a  teacher  in  these  small  western  towns, 
the  village  factor  quite  offsets  any  advantage  the  country  may 
have  over  the  city,  and  makes  the  juvenile  court  system,  when 
properly  adapted  to  the  conditions,  quite  'as  necessary  to  the 
thinly  settled  western  county  as  to  the  more  densely  populated 
eastern  county. 

In  a  way,  the  court  in  the  eastern  county  is  as  delinquent 
as  that  in  the  western.  The  population  of  eastern  counties  is 
in  greater  masses,  and  even  if  there  were  no  more  actual  cases 
of  delinquency  per  thousand  inhabitants,  these  cases  are  more 
likely  to  come  to  the  court’s  attention  and  to  be  cared  for.  But 
outside  of  these  larger  masses,  in  the  small  towns  and  country, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  counties  where  the  court  is  doing 
excellent  work  in  handling  delinquency  in  the  country  school, 
the  court  of  the  eastern  county  is  as  derelict  as  that  of  the 
western.  The  difficulty  is  twofold:  many  of  the  judges  seem 
to  be  laboring  under  a  misapprehension  of  the  purpose  of  the 
law — that  it  is  for  the  worst  cases  only.  This  is  proved  by  the 
fact  that  invariably  the  highest  per  cent  of  commitments  to 
the  State  Industrial  Schools  is  made  by  courts  having  very  few 
cases  per  thousand  inhabitants,  showing  that  all  or  nearly  all 
of  the  cases  of  delinquency  coming  before  the  court  are  of  a 
serious  nature.  They  apparently  take  no  cognizance  of  many 
less  serious  cases  and  when  they  do  have  a  case  they  make  no 
attempt  to  care  for  it  by  the  probation  system,  due  perhaps,  in 
some  cases,  to  the  fact  that  they  have  no  permanent  officers. 
Shawnee  county,  having  the  greatest  number  of  delinquent  cases, 
both  in  gross  and  per  thousand  of  population,  has  almost  the 
lowest  per  cent  of  commitments.  And  the  record  of  Sedgwick 


30 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS 


county  is  not  far  behind  that  of  Shawnee.  The  solution  of  this 
'difficulty  lies,  of  course,  in  the  judge’s  greater  familiarity  with 
the  purpose  of  the  law  and  its  proper  administration  and  in 
the  constant  service  of  an  efficient  probation  officer. 

The  second  difficulty  is  in  the  scattered  population  of  country 
and  small  towns,  a  difficulty  more  serious  in  proportion  to  the 
population,  in  the  western  than  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state. 
How  may  it  be  overcome?  The  juvenile  court  system  was 
originated  for  the  city.  It  is  especially  adapted  to  city  con¬ 
ditions.  It  can  hardly  be  expected  to  work  quite  as  well  else¬ 
where  if  conditions  are  different.  Herein  is  the  solution,  by 
modification.  The  probation  officer  should  be  continuously  on 
duty  and  visiting  the  small  town  and  the  country  almost  con¬ 
stantly.  •  Unless  this  is  provided  for,  the  county  seat  will  be 
cared  for  at  the  expense  of  the  rest  of  the  county.  In  a 
number  of  counties  in  Kansas  there  are  other  towns  as  large  as 
or  larger  than  the  county  seat.  Where  this  is  true  the  judge 
should  arrange  to  hold  court  in  these  towns  once  a  fortnight, 
and  so  meet  all  the  probationers  of  the  county  frequently  and 
regularly. 

On  the  whole,  it  should  be  said  that  with  some  allowance 
being  made  for  the  rural  character  of  the  people  and  the  scat¬ 
tered  population  in  the  western  half  of  the  state,  there  should 
be  as  many  delinquent  cases  per  thousand  of  population  appear¬ 
ing  before  the  court  if  its  work  is  thorough,  in  the  western  as  in 
the  eastern  half,  and  that  the  higher  the  number  per  thousand  of 
population,  the  higher  the  efficiency  of  the  court,  provided  that  the 
per  cent  of  commitments  is  low  and  the  burden  of  the  responsibil¬ 
ity  for  the  care  of  the  child  is  made  by  the  court  to  rest  heavily 
upon  the  family.  It  will  be  noted  that,  of  all  the  counties  report¬ 
ing,  a  little  less  than  one  child  per  thousand  population  is  found 
delinquent,  though  this,  of  course,  includes  all  the  trivial  cases 
of  delinquency,  such  as  truancy,  many  of  which  never  come 
to  trial. 

We  have  already  said  something  of  the  commitments.  Col¬ 
umn  10c  gives  the  number  to  the  State  Industrial  School  for 
boys  and  Column  lOd  to  the  State  Industrial  School  for  girls. 
In  the  next  column  is  given  the  per  cent  of  commitments.  For 
example,  Sumner  sent  five  delinquent  children  to  State  Schools 
out  of  ten  cases  reported  as  coming  before  it,  or  50%  of  the 
cases  coming  before  the  court  were  committed.  It  is  needless 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 


31 


to  say  that  this  is  a  poor  showing,  the  per  cent  being  altogether 
too  high.  Either  the  court  is  failing  to  get  hold  of  a  large 
number  of  average  cases  which  it  might  parole  or  it  is  com¬ 
mitting  children  for  trivial  causes  when  it  should  place  them 
on  probation.  No  doubt  both  of  these  conditions  are  true  of 
very  many  courts  where  the  per  cent  is  high.  Judge  Lindsey 
says  that  the  court  should  be  able  to  care  for  ninety-five  per 
cent  of  the  children  coming  before  it,  leaving  five  per  cent  to 
be  committed. 

Taking  the  state  as  a  whole,  judging  by  the  counties  report¬ 
ing,  the  per  cent  of  commitments  (ten  per  cent)  is  just  twice 
as  high  as  it  should  be.  Fewer  children  should  be  committed 
and  a  larger  number  should  appear  before  the  court.  One 
reason  why  the  actual  number  of  applications  made  for  com¬ 
mitment  has  not  been  reduced  under  the  new  law  is,  no  doubt, 
that  there  are  more  delinquent  cases  up  for  settlement  than 
under  the  old  law.  And  yet  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  most  of 
the  children  deserving  commitment  appeared  before  the  court 
under  the  old  law.  The  increase  mainly  is  from  the  less  serious 
cases,  as  it  should  be.  Another  possible  reason  why  there  is 
no  reduction  in  the  applications  is  because  the  new  law  allows 
the  judge  greater  discretion  as  to  the  cause  of  commitment. 
The  old  law  limited  commitment  to  three  classes  of  children;  the 
new  law  permits  the  judge  to  make  application  to  commit  any 
delinquent.  This,  however,  under  capable  judges,  should  serve 
not  to  increase  the  applications,  but  merely  to  make  the  system 
more  flexible  and  easily  adapted  to  the  case  in  hand. 

Altogether,  as  reported  by  the  State  Board  of  Control,  there 
were  committed  during  the  last  fiscal  year  118  boys  and  48 
girls  to  the  State  Industrial  Schools.  These  figures,  when  com¬ 
pared  with  ours,  which  are  for  a  little  over  fourteen  months 
instead  of  twelve,  indicate  that  the  judges  who  did  not  report 
are  making  about  the  same  number  of  commitments  as  those 
who  did.  This  fact,  too,  should  be  taken  into  consideration ; 
many  of  the  applications  to  the  Industrial  Schools  are  not 
allowed  by  the  Board  of  Control,  but  by  its  order  the  judges 
place  the  children  on  parole.  The  Act  creating  the  Board  of 
Control  has  given  it  the  prerogative  of  requiring  applications 
to  be  made  to  it  before  commitments  may  be  made,  and  the 
Board  has  exercised  this  power  seemingly  both  because  of  the 
overflowing  condition  of  the  institutions  and  because  children 
are  committed  when  it  would  be  better  if  they  were  paroled. 


32 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OP  KANSAS. 


Superintendent  H.  W.  Charles  of  the  Boys’  Industrial  School, 
in  a  recent  letter,  gave  us  this  statement:  “During  the  first 
year  of  the  operation  of  the  Juvenile  Court  Law  we  received 
116  boys,  the  year  preceding  we  received  144  boys.  This,  how¬ 
ever,  is  not  a  proper  comparison  of  the  number  of  commitments. 
During  both  of  these  years  the  Institution  has  been  kept  at  its 
fullest  capacity  and  the  number  of  admissions  has  depended, 
not  upon  the  number  of  applications,  but  upon  the  room  in  the 
School;  furthermore,  under  the  new  law  applications  are  made 
to  the  Board  of  Control,  so  that  I  have  no  information  relative 
to  the  number  of  applications.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that 
the  number  of  applications  for  admission  to  the  Institution 
decreased  for  the  first  few  months  of  the  operation  of  the  new 
law;  the  number,  however,  has  very  greatly  increased  during 
the  past  six  months.” 

Mrs.  Julia  B.  Perry,  Superintendent  of  the  Girls’  Industrial 
School,  in  her  report  for  the  biennium  closing  June  30,  1904, 
states  that  in  the  two  years  covered  by  the  report,  90  new 
cases  were  received  and  60  were  discharged  and  paroled,  a  net 
increase  of  30  for  the  two  years.  If  the  per  cent  of  commit¬ 
ments  could  be  reduced  from  10  per  cent  to  the  5  per  cent  which 
Judge  Lindsey  believes  should  cover  the  number  of  commitments, 
the  state  could  much  more  efficiently  handle  the  cases  that  it 
would  receive. 

In  column  lOe  the  number  of  dependent  cases  before  the 
court  is  given,  in  column  lOf  the  number  of  dependents  com¬ 
mitted  to  family  homes,  and  in  column  lOg  the  number 
committed  to  Orphans’  Homes  and  Child  Saving  Associations. 
The  data  given  here  are  hardly  adequa,te  for  a  thoroughly  sat¬ 
isfactory  analysis.  Many  cases  of  dependency  come  before  the 
probate  court  and  are,  of  course,  not  reported  here.  All  of  the 
commitments  made  to  the  state  institutions  for  dependent 
children,  the  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home,  are  made  through  the 
probate  court.  It  will  be  noted,  too,  that  the  total  number  com¬ 
mitted  to  family  homes  and  institutions  exceed  the  number 
reported  as  appearing  before  the  courts,  a  discrepancy  which 
the  judges  will  have,  to  explain,  but  probably  accounted  for 
through  a  confusion  of  cases  committed  by  the  probate  and 
juvenile  courts. 

In  lieu  of  the  fact  that  a  juvenile  court  judge  may  as  probate 
judge  commit  a  dependent  child  to  the  state  institution  for 
dependents  it  is  worth  observing  the  large  number  of  commit- 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 


33 


ments  made  to  private  institutions,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  state  institution  is  not  crowded  and  is  not  refusing 
applications.  The  explanation  seems  to  lie  in  the  eagerness  of 
the  private  organizations  for  the  care  of  the  child.  While  these 
organizations  are  for  the  most  part  fairly  efficient,  it  is  a  ques¬ 
tion  whether  the  existence  of  many  such  organizations  with  dif¬ 
fused  responsibility  and  diversity  of  management,  supported  by 
subsidy  and  donation,  is  an  economical  arrangement,  a  question 
which  we  will  consider  later. 

An  interesting  fact  brought  out  by  the  report  is  the  large 
number  of  children  placed  directly  by  the  court  into  family 
homes.  This,  however,  in  preference  to  allowing  the  state  or 
a  good  private  organization  to  place  the  child  is  a  practice  of 
doubtful  expediency,  except  where  the  court  has  adequate  facil¬ 
ities  for  previous  investigation  of  homes  and  subsequent  super¬ 
vision  of  its  work,  and  few  courts  have  such  facilities.  Dr.  C.  R. 
Henderson,  in  his  “Dependents,  Defectives  and  Delinquents,” 
states  that  “experience  shows  that  half  the  children  need  to  be 
replaced,  some  of  them  several  times,  before  the  right  place  is 
found.”  Will  the  Kansas  courts  replace  35  out  of  the  75  chil¬ 
dren  committed  to  family  homes  during  the  past  year? 

The  further  results  of  this  report  may  be  summarized  as  fol¬ 
lows  :  Few  suggestions  were  brought  out  in  answer  to  questions 
2  and  7b  regarding  changes  in  the  law  and  such  as  were  made 
are  considered  in  subsequent  pages.  A  very  general  statement 
from  the  replies  made  to  question  3  would  be  that  the  judges  are 
generally  in  favor  of  placing  greater  responsibility  on  the  parents 
and  of  a  law  to  make  it  possible.  Answers  to  question  8a,  where 
they  seem  to  be  helpful,  are  brought  out  in  another  connection. 
In  answer  to  question  8b,  it  was  discovered  that  no  Juvenile 
Improvement  Associations  have  been  organized,  though  the 
Topeka  court  is  considering  the  club  idea.  Nothing  of  conse¬ 
quence  was  developed  in  the  replies  to  questions  9a  and  9b. 

The  answers  to  question  lOh  show  that  the  following  are  the 
prevailing  causes  of  juvenile  delinquency  in  the  order  of  prev¬ 
alency:  Petty  larceny,  assault  and  disturbance  of  the  peace, 
incorrigibility,  neglect  of  parents,  immorality,  evil  associations, 
jumping  cars,  truancy,  grand  larceny,  forgery,  and  perjury. 
Some  of  these  overlap,  while  nearly  all  might  be  traced  to 
parental  neglect.  Many  judges  failed  to  answer,  especially  of 
courts  where  there  are  many  cases.  Reports  from  such  courts 
would  undoubtedly  throw  truancy  much  higher  in  the  list.  Many 


34 


THE  JUVENILE  COUET  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


judges  failed  to  give  the  exact  number  charged  with  a  certain 
offense,  while  nearly  all  neglected  to  discriminate  between  the 
sexes.  Where  such  discrimination  was  made  the  leading  offenses 
charged  against  girls  were  keeping  company  with  evil  associates 
and  sexual  immorality,  one  and  the  same  thing  generally.  Full¬ 
er  and  more  accurate  returns  might  change  the  order  somewhat, 
but  the  reports  of  previous  years  from  the  State  Industrial 
Schools  concerning  the  causes  of  commitment  and  the  lack  of 
parental  care  strikingly  confirm  our  report.  From  the  report 
of  the  Girls’  Industrial  School  for  the  biennium  closing  June  30, 
1904,  it  is  learned  that  the  leading  causes  of  the  ninety  commit¬ 
ments  made  were  incorrigibility,  immorality  and  petty  larcency; 
one  or  both  of  the  parents  of  forty-nine  of  the  girls  were  dead, 
and  the  parents  of  twenty  of  the  remaining  forty-one  were  not 
living  together.  A  good  family  home  will  cure  practically  all 
of  children’s  troubles. 

b.  Pen  Pictures  of  the  Court. 

The  material  for  these  sketches  and  sentence  side-lights  given 
here  have  been  culled  from  letters,  reports,  interviews,  and  news¬ 
papers.  Their  interest  centers  in  their  illuminating  explana¬ 
tion  of  the  court’s  manner  of  dealing  with  its  charges. 

Judge  E.  E.  Enoch,  of  Wichita,  Sedgwick  County,  holds  each 
fortnight  the  “snitching  bee,”  made  famous  by  Judge  Lindsey, 
of  Denver.  At  one  of  these  one  of  the  boys  announced  that  a 
friend  had  given  him  a  rooster  and  he  had  purchased  two  hens 
for  fifteen  cents.  One  of  the  hens  lays  an  egg  every  day,  but 
the  other  seems  to  be  a  drone,  but  eggs  are  worth  a  penny  each 
and  the  one  hen  had  paid  for  herself.  The  judge  asked  the  boy 
all  about  his  chickens,  how  he  cared  for  them,  what  kind  of  a 
house  and  what  feed  he  had.  The  boy  had  been  very  shy  at 
first,  but  when  he  found  that  the  judge  was  interested  his  eyes 
brightened  and  he  told  all  about  how  he  had  built  a  house  for  his 
chickens  out  of  an  old  box,  and  made  a  pen  for  them  from  sticks 
and  boards.  Judge  Enoch  wanted  to  know  if  his  protege  could 
get  any  more  hens  at  two  for  fifteen  cents,  but  the  boy  said  he 
could  not,  so  the  judge  told  him  to  get  some  prices  for  good 
hens  from  some  of  the  neighbors  and  bring  them  to  him  at  the 
next  “bee,”  and  the  judge  would  furnish  the  capital  for  starting 
the  chicken  pens.  They  drew  up  a  contract  as  to  the  share  in 
the  profits,  all  of  which  the  boy  gets.  Judge  Enoch  contracting 
for  the  eggs  and  spring  chickens  at  market  prices. 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 


35 


It  is  the  judge’s  idea  of  the  “snitching  bee”  to  teach  the 
boys  not  to  tell  on  each  other,  but  to  tell  him  everything  they 
have  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad.  He  is  working  into  the 
confidence  of  the  boys  and  they  are  beginning  to  tell  him  about 
everything.  They  have  a  conscience  fund,  and  every  time  one 
boy  does  something  bad  he  contributes  a  penny  to  the  fund,  to 
be  used  in  helping  some  other  boy.  Any  boy  who  is  away  on  a 
vacation  or  absent  from  the  city  for  other  reasons,  writes  the 
judge  a  letter  telling  what  he  is  doing  and  how  he  is  enjoying 
himself. 

After  the  meeting  alluded  to  above.  Judge  Enoch  requested 
the  boys  to  ask  any  questions  about  anything  they  had  heard  or 
were  interested  in,  and  he  would  try  to  answer  them,  if  not  at 
one  meeting,  then  at  another,  and  he  would  look  up  books  which 
they  could  get  which  would  give  more  details  about  any  question 
they  might  want  to  know  about. 

Here  are  a  few  gleams  from  various  courts:  Judge  W.  0. 
Jeffrey  of  Erie,  Neosho  county,  says:  “I  have  found  it  quite 
helpful  to  visit  the  homes  where  juvenile  charges  are  .placed 
and  spend  an  hour,  or  more,  if  possible,  in  giving  a  little  good 
cheer.  Boys  and  girls  grow  stronger  in  the  right  by  being 
made  to  feel  that  some  one  has  his  or  her  best  interests  at  heart.” 
Judge  Joseph  Little  of  Alma,  Wabaunsee  county,  speaks  of  hav¬ 
ing  his  charges  report  regularly  on  a  certain  day  and  hour,  and 
'  with  his  talk,  of  giving  each  an  apple  or  orange,  but  never  any 
money.  Judge  L.  E.  Countryman  of  Phillipsburg,  Phillips 
county,  makes  this  pithy  remark:  “The  juvenile  judge  should 
be  a  real  ‘Daddy’  to  all  the  ‘ornery’  children  in  his  jurisdiction.” 
And  Judge  L.  J.  Patton  of  Newton,  Harvey  county,  says:  “In¬ 
form  the  child  that  you  are  interested  in  his  or  her  future  good ; 
make  friends  with  them.” 

Judge  G.  W.  McGehee  of  Mankato,  Jewell  county,  writes 
thus  of  a  difficult  case:  “After  hearing  the  evidence,  I  talked 
to  the  boy,  got  his  confidence,  told  him  I  was  his  friend,  advised 
him  not  to  swear  at  school,  not  to  fight,  told  him  that  if  he 
got  into  any  trouble  to  tell  me  all  about  it,  and  always  to  remem¬ 
ber  I  was  his  friend.  I  also  told  him  that  I  wanted  him  to  wiTce 
me  once  a  month  and  let  me  know  how  he  was  getting  along.  I 
then  told  him  I  wanted  him  to  go  home  with  his  father  and 
be  a  good  boy  and  that  I  believed  that  he  would.  His  answer 
was,  ‘Yes,  I  will.’  He  has  been  writing  me  regularly  and  has 


36 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


caused  no  trouble  since  then.”  Judge  McGehee  says  further: 
“I  believe  that  if  the  judge  will  come  down  to  the  realm  of 
boyhood  and  be  a  boy  with  the  delinquent,  get  the  confidence 
of  the  boy,  let  him  understand  that  you  are  not  against  him, 
but  are  his  friend  and  will  help  him  to  be  a  good  boy,  and  that 
you  believe  he  will,  in  a  very  large  per  cent  of  cases  they  can 
be  managed  without  a  great  deal  of  difficulty.” 

From  many  sources  we  have  words  of  commendation  for 
the  successful  handling  of  the  large  number  of  juvenile  cases 
in  the  Shawnee  court  at  Topeka.  R.  F.  Hayden  is  judge  and 
R.  W.  Eaton  is  probation  officer.  A  few  days  ago  the  following 
item  appeared  in  the  Topeka  Capital:  “Wanted^ — Work  for  20 
boys,  aged  from  12  to  16,  whose  families  need  their  assistance 
and  who  would  otherwise  be  loafing.  Full  information  may  be 
had  by  applying  to  R.  F.  Hayden,  judge  of  the  juvenile  court, 
at  the  court  house.”  Concerning  the  matter  Judge  Hayden 
said:  “We  could  put  twenty  of  our  boys  to  work  tomorrow, 
if  we  knew  where  to  put  them.  And  they  are  good  boys,  too. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  have  just  as  good  boys  in  this  court  as 
the  average  is  outside.  Just  because  a  boy  jumps  a  train,  or  has 
a  fight,  or  can’t  resist  the  temptation  to  throw  a  rock  through 
the  window  of  a  vacant  shack  just  to  hear  the  glass  smash, 
doesn’t  argue  that  he  won’t  work  and  work  well  and  be  honest. 
But  all  the  same  those  little  pranks  get  a  boy  into  trouble,  and 
trouble  of  that  kind  generally  means  the  police  court,  and  from 
there  he  is  sent  over  here  and  put  into  our  charge.  Unless  these 
boys  have  something  profitable  to  do  they  are  running  the  streets, 
and  everybody  knows  that  ‘an  idle  mind  is  the  devil’s  workshop.’ 
I  want  to  make  an  appeal  for  these  boys  that  they  may  be  put 
to  work,  for  all  of  them  want  to  be,  and  I  believe  they  are 
capable.  It  is  the  only  way  of  preserving  their  futures.” 
Within  two  weeks  after  the  want  item  was  published.  Judge 
Hayden  had  secured  work  for  the  twenty  boys,  and  a  free 
employment  agency  established  in  the  office  was  helping  other 
boys  of  the  court  to  find  work. 

Here  is  the  story  of  a  bright  looking  little  fellow  of  twelve 
M'ho  appeared  before  Judge  Hayden  one  morning: 

“Say,  judge,”  he  said,  “you  don’t  know  me,  do  you?” 

The  judge  admitted  that  the  boy  “had”  him. 

“Judge,  I  was  here  once  last  spring  for  stealing,  and  you 
let  me  go  if  I’d  be  good.  Judge,  I  hain’t  done  no  stealin’  since, 
and  I  want  you  to  do  something  for  me.” 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 


37 


“All  right,”  said  the  judge,  “If  you’ve  been  a  good  boy  that 
long  you  deserve  a  favor,  and  I’ll  do  it  for  you  if  I  can.” 

“Well,  you  see.  May  she’s  sick  an’  paw  he’s  been  dead  a  long 
time  and  now  they  hain’t  nobody  to  get  out  an’  dig  up  the  grub 
for  maw  an’  me  but  me.  Now  what  I  want’s  a  chance.” 

“Go  on,”  said  Judge  Hayden. 

The  boy  dug  his  toes  into  the  linoleum  thoughtfully  for  a 
moment  and  half  ashamed. 

“Judge,”  he  said,  finally,  “I  know’s  well  as  you  do  I  ain’t 
alius  been  a  good  boy  and  I  know  I’ve  stole  things.  Somehow 
it  didn’t  do  me  no  good  to  get  pinched  an’  chucked  in,  but  when 
you  handed  me  the  talk  you  did  that  day  an’  didn’t  do  no  cussin’ 
nor  call  me  names  an’  then  told  me  if  I’d  go  an’  quit  stealin’ 
you’d  do  all  you  could  for  me,  I  just  says  to  myself,  ‘That  there 
guy  he’s  all  right  an’  I’ll  do  what  he  says,’  an’  I  done  it.” 

The  boy  hesitated  again. 

“Well?”  asked  the  judge. 

“Now,  I  want  you  to  do  what  you  said  you’d  do — help  me. 
Ain’t  that  on  the  square?” 

“Bet  your  life,”  replied  the  judge,  dropping  into  the  street 
language  of  the  boy  before  him,  as  he  makes  a  rule  of  doing 
to  help  gain  their  confidence.  “I’ll  do  it  if  I  can.  Sure.” 

“That’s  the  talk  I  knowed  you’d  put  up,  ’cause  you’re  all 
right.  Now,  I  got  a  chance  to  get  a  job  on  a  messenger  service 
if  I  just  had  a  bicycle,  but  I  ain’t  got  none.” 

“You  don’t  want  me  to  buy  you  a  bicycle,  do  you?”  asked 
the  judge,  half  frightened  at  what  he  had  got  into. 

“Aw,  stop  your  kidding;  of  course  not.  But  I  got  a  chance 
to  get  one  half  down  and  the  rest  on  time,  but  ain’t  got  the  coin 
for  the  first  half.” 

“And  you  want  me  to  give  that  to  you?” 

“Lend  it  to  me,”  almost  shouted  the  boy,  “that’s  what  I’m 
making  all  this  spiel  for.  Lend  it  to  me.  You  said  you’d  help 
me,  didn’t  you?  I’m  going  to  get  three  dollars  a  week  for  the 
first  month,  and  after  that  fifteen  a  month.” 

And  the  judge  put  on  his  hat  and  went  with  the  boy  to  get 
the  bicycle. 

“Now,  that  boy’ll  pay  me,”  said  the  judge  when  he  came 
back,  “and  I  haven’t  any  chattel  mortgage  on  his  bicycle,  either. 
He’s  on  his  honor,  and  he’s  got  a  different  idea  now  of  what 
honor  and  honesty  are  than  he  had  a  year  ago. 


38 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


“Now,  do  you  know  why  that  boy  came  to  me  so  readily 
and  with  a  trust  in  his  mind  that  I’d  do  what  he  asked?  It  was 
because  when  he  was  here  before  I  cut  out  the  usual  stiff-backed, 
long-faced  judicial  dignity,  and  got  right  down  to  his  level.  I 
talked  just  as  much  street  slang  to  him  as  he  did  to  me.  I  didn’t 
do  anj"  bullying,  and  I  didn’t  do  any  preaching.  I  just  talked 
to  him.  I  tried  to  show  him  in  a  way  he’d  understand  that  he 
would  not  only  never  be  respected,  but  he  would  always  be  in 
trouble  if  he  kept  on  stealing;  and  that  if  he  quit  and  tried  to 
earn  money  I  would  be  his  friend  and  so  would  everybody  else. 
I  used  enough  slang  and  ‘jolly’  to  make  him  believe  that  I  would 
not  only  be  his  friend  but  his  ‘pah’  I  do  not  believe  the  boy 
was  ever  talked  to  that  way  before,  and  I  begin  to  think  that 
it  did  the  good  I  intended  it  to  do.” 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  only  five  boys  and  three  girls  out 
of  277  delinquent  cases  have  been  sent  from  the  Shawnee  court 
to  the  State  Industrial  Schools,  the  methods  of  Judge  Hayden 
and  Officer  Eaton  are  worthy  of  study. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  children  are  released  upon  their 
honor,  although  they  are  not  so  informed,  they  are  being  watched 
by  the  truant  officer  of  the  court  and  by  their  parents.  Ulti¬ 
mately  Judge  Hayden  hopes  to  have  a  committee  of  workers  who 
will  devote  at  least  a  part  of  every  day  to  investigating  the 
homes  of  the  lads  under  his  charge  and  to  watching  how  the 
little  folk  get  along  in  school.  The  teachers  of  the  schools 
have  been  asked  to  report  weekly  upon  the  conduct  and  grade 
of  scholarship  of  the  “honor  list”  children.  These  three  ways 
and  perhaps  others  will  be  used  for  checking  up  the  little  folks’ 
stories. 

Mr.  Eaton  says;  “According  to  the  procedure  of  the  court, 
a  warrant  is  sworn  out  for  any  boy  or  girl,  reported  to  be  incor¬ 
rigible.  This  warrant  is  never  served  on  the  youngster  and  the 
word  ‘arrest,’  like  the  word  ‘crime,’  is  never  mentioned.  This 
warrant  is  shown  to  the  parents  or  placed  on  file  in  my  desk. 
I  have  a  talk  with  the  child  at  his  home  and  ask  him  to  report 
to  the  judge  at  a  certain  time.  The  children  always  come  to 
the  court. 

“The  judge  talks  to  the  lad  in  his  private  office.  Recognizing 
that  each  case  must  be  treated  differently,  a  few  rules  are  never¬ 
theless  set  down  by  the  judge  for  his  own  conduct  toward  the 
lads.  These  are : 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 


39 


“  ‘A  boy  can  be  controlled  by  kindness,  and  by  placing  him 
on  his  honor.’ 

“  ‘A  child  cannot  be  frightened  into  becoming  good.’ 

“  ‘A  boy  has  a  clearer  conception  of  the  truth  than  a  grown 
man.  It  is  hard  to  deceive  a  child.  Any  suggestion  from  the 
parents  that  the  child  be  cajoled  or  fooled  into  being  good,  must 
be  passed  over.  When  a  lad  is  placed  upon  his  honor,  the  man 
who  is  endeavoring  to  help  him,  must  place  himself  likewise 
upon  his  honor.’ 

“  ‘The  most  important  thing,  perhaps,  for  those  in  the  work 
to  remember  is  that  they  cannot  control  a  child  without  their 
hearts’  being  in  the  work.  Children  detect  false  sentiment  much 
quicker  than  would  a  grown  person.’ 

“One  encouraging  feature  of  the  work  is  that  we  always, 
except  in  one  case,  have  had  the  support  of  the  parents.  I  visit 
the  parents  once  each  week,  and  they  appear  glad  to  see  me. 

“We  have  a  juvenile  court  day  once  every  two  weeks  when 
all  of  the  children,  who  have  been  brought  under  the  care  of 
the  court  because  of  misconduct,  appear.  These  meetings  are 
largely  experience  meetings,  at  which  the  children  tell  of  the 
trials  which  they  encounter  in  trying  to  be  good.  At  the  close 
the  judge  makes  them  a  little  talk.’’ 

Here  are  Judge  Hayden’s  views  on  punishment: 

“By  throwing  the  boys  or  girls  into  jail  you  merely  make 
them  worse.  They  come  in  contact  with  criminals  and  are 
publicly  shamed.  The  average  bad  boy  or  girl  does  not  need 
punishing  at  all,  according  to  the  usual  meaning  of  the  word. 
All  he  needs,  and  what  he  has  probably  lacked  in  his  home,  is 
to  be  treated  like  a  man  of  honor  and  with  the  courtesy  due 
one  person  from  another,  whether  one  be  a  little  boy  or  both 
be  of  an  equal  age.’’ 

c.  Comments,  Commendations,  and  Criticisms. 

It  is  encouraging  to  note  the  general  interest  taken  in  the 
success  of  the  Juvenile  Court  Law  by  many  different  classes 
of  people.  Despite  the  fact  that  according  to  press  reports  many 
sheriffs  in  the  recent  annual  convention  of  the  Interstate 
Sheriffs’  Association  held  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  vigorously  con¬ 
demned  the  law  as  it  is  observed  in  Kansas,  Iowa,  Illinois,  and 
Colorado,  Kansas  people  without  claiming  that  the  law  or  its 


40 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


administration  cannot  be  improved,  seem  to  believe  it  is  a  good 
thing.  The  following  are,  in  the  main,  extracts  from  letters 
received : 

Governor  E.  W.  Hoch,  in  a  letter  dated  July  17,  1906,  says 
of  the  law:  “It  will  save  countless  children  from  prison  stains 
and  from  criminal  careers.  It  will  grow  in  popularity  as  the 
people  come  to  understand  its  beneficent  purpose.” 

Mrs.  Julia  B.  Perry,  Superintendent  of  the  Girls’  Industrial 
School  at  Beloit,  in  a  communication  dated  July  12,  1906,  makes 
this  very  pertinent  comment:  “I  think,  perhaps,  the  Juvenile 
Court  Law  is  a  very  good  thing.  It  has  not  had  sufficient  time 
to  prove  its  merits,  as  the  work  has  been  new  to  those  who  have 
undertaken  it,  and  its  worth  will  be  manifest  as  the  Probation 
Officer  is  wisely  chosen.  It  will  be  necessary,  in  my  opinion,  to 
have  persons  who  have  a  very  kindly  interest  in  the  young,  and 
persons  who  have  made  a  study  of  human  nature.  I  cannot 
see  how  one  filling  that  place  can  be  successful  unless  he  has 
those  qualifications.  One  can  scarcely  pass  judgment  on  the 
ones  who  have  held  this  office  until  they  have  had  time  to  prove 
themselves.  A  person,  to  work  successfully  with  the  young,  be 
it  boys  or  girls,  must  be  resourceful,  tactful,  and  judicious.”  In 
view  of  Mrs.  Perry’s  well-known  success  in  the  management  of 
children,  these  words  should  "be  especially  significant  to  the 
would-be  probation  officer. 

Mrs.  Cora  G.  Lewis  of  Kinsley,  one  of  the  two  women  visitors 
of  the  state  institutions  under  the  management  of  the  State 
Board  of  Control,  in  a  letter  dated  July  29,  1906,  says:  “The 
law  has  been  reasonably  successful  in  operation  here.  Probate 
judges  have  had  to  be  educated  in  many  instances  to  the  idea 
that  the  intent  of  the  law  was  to  keep  children  out  of  reform 
schools  and  yet  throw  the  restraint  of  the  law  about  them.  The 
tendency  in  the  beginning  was  to  take  juvenile  offenders  under 
the  care  of  the  court,  and  then  sentence  them  to  the  reform 
schools.  This  was  to  be  expected,  inasmuch  as  the  probate 
judges  in  Kansas  are  politicians.  To  make  the  Juvenile  Court 
Law  efficient,  it  will  be  necessary  to  run  good  men  for  this 
office  and  take  it  out  of  politics.  You  can  probably  imagine 
about  how  soon  ‘the  people’  will  do  this.” 

Mrs.  Lewis  closes  an  interesting  letter  with  this  bit  of  prac¬ 
tical  sentiment:  “If  all  reformers  and  all  thinkers  would  only 
concentrate  on  the  care  and  culture  of  children  we  would  soon 
have  a  better  world.” 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 


41 


Mr.  H.  W.  Charles,  Superintendent  of  the  Boys’  Industrial 
School,  at  Topeka,  in  a  letter  some  time  ago,  made  the  casual 
remark  that  the  Juvenile  Court  Law  seems  to  have  caused  a 
decrease  in  the  average  age  of  boys  committed  and  an  influx 
of  boys  of  defective  mentality.  More  small  boys  are  now  in 
the  School  than  ever  in  its  history.  Asked  to  explain,  Mr. 
Charles,  in  a  subsequent  letter,  says:  “I  can  account  for  the 
decrease  in  average  age  and  the  defective  mentality  on  the 
ground  that  the  Juvenile  Court  Law  has  resulted  in  a  stricter 
enforcement  of  the  law  against  juvenile  delinquency  and  tru- 
ancy.  The  boys  belonging  to  these  two  classes  that  formerly 
were  allowed  to  roam  about  the  towns  and  cities  with  no  one 
to  look  after  them,  have  now  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court,  and  application  is  made  for  their  admission  to  this  insti¬ 
tution;  furthermore,  the  Board  of  Control,  in  passing  upon  the 
applications,  have  favored  the  boys  belonging  to  these  two 
classes,  and  have  excluded  older  boys  and  those  better  able  to 
care  for  themselves.” 

In  the  March  number,  1906,  of  the  Boys’  Chronicle,  published 
at  the  Boys’  Industrial  School,  Mr.  Charles,  in  an  editorial,  has 
this  to  say  of  the  new' law:  “The  Juvenile  Court  Law,  like  the 
Prohibitory  Law,  must  have  the  vigorous  support  of  the  officials 
and  citizens,  of  the  community,  or  it  will  fail  just  as  it  is  now 
failing  in  some  localities  and  may  sooner  or  later  be  brought 
into  disrepute.  The  wayward  child  cannot  be  legislated  into  a 
good  boy  or  girl.  Enthusiastic  officials  can  do  much,  but  the 
sympathy  and  vigorous  cooperation  of  every  member  of  the 
community  are  necessary  if  the  real  objects  of  the  law  are  to 
be  accomplished.  There  is  a  residue  of  delinquency  in  every 
community  that  the  Juvenile  Court,  even  under  the  most  favor¬ 
able  conditions,  cannot  reach.  The  combined  influence  of  the 
home,  the  church,  the  school,  and  the  courts  will  sometimes  fail, 
but  the  enthusiastic  and  persistent  cooperation  of  all  these  is 
necessary  or  the  Juvenile  Court  Law  will  become  a  useless 
encumbrance.” 

In  emphasis,  however,  of  the  part  the  official  of  the  court 
may  play,  Mr.  Charles,  in  an  editorial  of  the  previous  October 
number  of  the  same  paper,  says:  “The  judge  of  the  Juvenile 
Court  and  his  Probation  Officer,  if  they  themselves  understand 
the  bad  boy  problem,  can  do  much  towards  lessening  the  amount 
of  juvenile  delinquency;  but  an  unsympathetic  judge  or  pro¬ 
bation  officer  will  only  fill  up  the  state  institutions  without  reduc- 


42 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OE  KANSAS. 


ing  the  volume  of  juvenile  crime.  It  is,  in  fact,  not  so  much  a 
question  of  enforcing  the  law  as  it  is  of  quickening  the  public 
conscience  into  a  realization  of  its  duty  to  the  wayward  boy.” 

Mr.  John  R.  Carter,  Topeka,  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  of  Shawnee  county,  in  reference  to  the  court’s  con¬ 
nection  with  truancy  cases,  says,  in  a  letter  dated  July  17,  1906 : 
“I  want  to  say  that  the  combination  of  the  juvenile  court  work 
and  the  truancy  work  is  a  great  thing.  In  99  cases  out  of  100 
a  truant  (a  habitual  truant)  is  a  transgressor  of  the  law. 
*  *  *  This  combining  of  the  laws  has  given  us  a  judge  who 

is  brought  in  closer  contact  with  our  work  and  naturally  is 
more  interested  in  it.”  Mr.  Carter  may  well  be  satisfied  when 
75  cases  of  truancy  in  the  county  outside  of  Topeka  have  been 
successfully  handled  by  the  Probation  Officer  in  the  past  year. 

Superintendent  L.  D.  Whittemore  of  the  Topeka  schools, 
writing  July  19,  1906,  says:  ‘‘During  the  past  year  169  truancy 
cases  were  reported  by  the  teachers  in  the  Topeka  schools.  Only 
two  or  three  cases  were  brought  against  parents  on  account  of 
truancy.  According  to  the  present  law,  action  is  not  brought 
against  the  child  in  the  juvenile  court  for  truancy  unless  the 
parent  makes  a  statement  that  he  is  unable  to  control  the  child. 
Eighty-one  truants  were  reported  as  returning  to  school  on 
account  of  the  efforts  of  the  truant  officer.  I  believe,  however, 
that  a  larger  number  of  the  cases  of  truancy  reported  returned 
to  school.” 

As  Mr.  Whittemore  observes  above,  only  under  certain  con¬ 
ditions  do  truancy  cases  come  before  the  juvenile  court.  As 
we  contend  elsewhere,  this  is  not  a  wise  plan.  Mr.  Whittemore 
.says:  ‘‘The  main  advantage  to  the  schools  in  the  present  law 
is  in  giving  responsible  supervision  of  boys  who  otherwise  would 
be  a  greater  menace  to  the  welfare  of  the  schools.  With  ref¬ 
erence  to  truancy  cases,  it  would  be  a  decided  improvement  if 
action  could  be  brought  in  the  juvenile  court  instead  of  in  the 
city  court,  where  such  cases  are  now  tried.  The  proceedings 
should  be  somewhat  informal,  and  there  should  be  a  small  fine 
or  penalty,  sufficient  to  impress  the  indifferent  parent  with  the 
fact  of  his  responsibility  for  the  conduct  and  attendance  at 
school  of  his  child.  For  the  past  year  the  Probation  Officer  of 
the  juvenile  court  has  been  truant  officer  for  the  city  as  well 
as  for  the  county.  This  arrangement  works  well  enough  and 
probably  secures  more  harmony  between  the  schools  and  the 
court  than  any  other  plan.” 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COUR'i'. 


43 


The  only  truant  or  parental  school  in  Kansas,  so  far  as  we 
have  learned,  is  the  one  at  Topeka,  established  last  winter.  It 
is  of  special  interest  because  of  its  assuming  a  part  of  the  work 
of  a  county  “detention  home.”  Of  this  school  Mr.  Whittemore 
writes :  “Our  special  school  was  not  mainly  for  truants,  but 
for  any  boys  who  could  not  get  along  in  an  ordinary  school  with¬ 
out  giving  continual  annoyance.  We  took  in  a  few  habitual 
truants,  some  who  were  recommended  by  the  probation  officer, 
and  others  whom  I  transferred  from  various  schools.  The  enroll¬ 
ment  was  25.  The  school  was  not  strictly  graded,  but  instruc¬ 
tion  was  adapted  to  individual  conditions.  In  addition  to  the 
regular  school  studies,  we  had  manual  training  in  the  form  of 
wood  working,  which  was  carried  on  in  a  room  fitted  up  with 
benches  and  tools.  The  boys  made  good  progress  in  their  studies 
and  were  much  interested  in  the  shop  work.  They  did  not 
regard  their  membership  in  the  school  as  a  penalty,  and  most  of 
them,  if  not  all,  would  prefer  to  remain  there  than  to  go  back 
to  the  schools  which  they  formerly  attended.”  This  should  help 
to  prepare  the  way  for  a  county  “detention  home,”  which  Mr. 
Whittemore  believes  would  be  a  good  thing,  if  properly  con¬ 
ducted. 

Mrs.  L.  E.  Thorpe,  police  matron  of  Topeka’s  city  prison,  is 
widely  known  as  a  most  capable  officer.  At  the  close  of  a  letter 
worth  quoting  throughout,  she  has  this  to  say  concerning  incar¬ 
ceration  :  “The  provision  prohibiting  the  incarceration  of 
children  with  older  criminals  is,  to  my  mind,  the  supreme  good 
of  the  law.  Three  years  ago  I  had  more  children,  as  a  rule,  on 
my  prison  register,  than  adults.  Now,  I  never  have  one  as  a 
prisoner,  although  I  am  frequently  called  upon  to  care  for  young 
offenders  for  a  few  hours,  in  my  own  rooms  at  the  station,  until 
their  matters  can  be  adjusted.”  However  imperfect  the  law  is  on 
this  point  of  incarceration,  it  is  evident  that  Judge  Hayden  of 
the  juvenile  court,  and  Mrs.  Thorpe  are  conforming  to  the  spirit 
of  the  law. 

With  reference  to  parental  responsibility,  Mrs.  Thorpe  says : 
“In  most  cases  the  parents  are  really  the  offenders  and  contribute 
largely  to  all  delinquencies.  If  we  could  have  legislation  to 
correct  the -parents,  it  would  be  a  wholesome  thing.” 

Mr.  E.  L.  Hillis,  Superintendent  of  the  Soldiers’  Orphans’ 
Home,  at  Atchison,  the  state  institution  for  dependent  children, 
in  a  letter  dated  July  14,  1906,  also  suggests  that  fathers  and 


44 


THE  JIH^ENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


mothers  be  made  “amenable  to  the  law  and  subject  to  arrest 
and  punishment  for  not  taking  care  of  their  children.” 

On  the  same  subject,  Judge  T,  F.  Carver,  of  Topeka,  the 
first  president  of  the  Kansas  Society  for  the  Friendless,  and 
an  authority  on  juvenile  court  legislation,  under  the  date  of  July 
2,  1906,  writes:  “I  think  the  thing  of  prime  importance  that 
should  be  added  to  our  Juvenile  Court  Law  is  a  provision  con¬ 
cerning  delinquent  parents.  When  they  neglect  their  children, 
there  should  be  an  effective  method  to  correct  their  conduct  and 
in  some  way  compel  them  to  give  that  care  and  support  to  their 
children  which  their  conditions  require.  One  plan  would  be  to 
force  the  payment  to  the  court  of  stated  sums  to  meet  the  expense 
of  the  state  in  such  cases.” 

d.  The  Court’s  Cost  and  a  Comparison. 

It  is  both  interesting  and  highly  profitable  to  consider  the 
cost  of  the  juvenile  court  system.  Taking  Shawnee  county  as 
a  basis  for  study,  it  will  be  found  according  to  the  figures  fur¬ 
nished  by  the  county  auditor,  there  was  incurred  from  the  date 
when  the  law  went  into  effect  to  June  30,  1906,  an  expense  of 
$2,319.88.  Up  to  June  1,  there  had  been  cared  for  by  the  court 
277  delinquents.  Allowing  for  June  the  average  number  per 
month  of  new  cases,  there  would  be  by  the  close  of  June,  300 
cases  cared  for.  This  makes  an  average  expenditure  of  $7.73 
for  each  case.  While  the  dependent  cases  do  not  cost  as  much 
as  the  delinquent  cases  do,  some  of  the  probation  service  and 
considerable  of  the  fee  expense  should  be  chargd  to  this  class. 
Three  hundred  and  forty-eight  cases  (delinquent  and  dependent) 
would  man  $6.66  per  child.  For  the  delinquent  class  it  is  safe 
to  figure  $7.00  per  child.  With  Judge  Lindsey  of  Denver,  who 
has  made  a  careful  estimate,  as  authority,  the  old  method  of 
dealing  with  the  child  cost  the  county  and  the  state  $227.92  per 
case.  But  this  includes  the  care  of  the  child  in  an  institution 
for  one  year,  which  he  estimated  at  $200.  From  the  reports  of 
the  Kansas  State  Industrial  Schools,  $200.00  is  a  close  average 
for  the  care  of  a  child  for  a  year  in  the  Kansas  institutions.  This 
leaves  $27.92  for  the  prosecution  and  conviction  of  the  child  as 
against  $7.00  for  the  trial  of  the  child,  and  what  is  much  better, 
a  long  continued  care  of  many  of  the  cases.  This  means  a  net 
gain  of  $20.92  per  case,  which  for  300  children  means  a  saving 
of  $6,276.00. 


A  YEAR  OF  THE  COURT. 


45 


Of  course,  many  of  these  cases  would  not,  at  present  at  least, 
come  to  the  notice  of  a  criminal  court,  but  if  not,  so  much  the 
worse  for  both  child  and  community.  Looking  at  the  matter 
from  the  cold  dollars-and-cents  point  of  view,  with  the  child  clear 
out  of  the  question,  the  saving  of  say  one-tenth  of  this  number 
from  criminal  careers,  allowing  that  the  nine-tenths  would  come 
out  all  right  without  help,  means  a  clear  gain  to  the  pockets  of  the 
tax-payers  in  the  next  ten  years  of  thousands  of  dollars,  for  crime 
costs  the  county  government  more  than  does  any  other  item.  If 
we  take  this  same  report  of  the  auditor  of  Shawnee  county,  we 
find  that  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  the  expenses  of  the 
criminal  courts,  county  jail  and  prosecuting  attorneys  amount 
to  over  $30,000.  If  we  were  to  include  the  city  of  Topeka’s 
expenses  for  prison  and  officers  and  police  court,  several  thousand 
dollars  would  need  to  be  added  to  the  above  figures.  And  then, 
after  the  tax-payer  has  footed  the  bill,  he  still  has  the  criminal 
with  him  to  prey  on  his  purse  through  the  succeeding  years. 
For  this  same  fiscal  year  the  juvenile  court  cost  the  county 
$2,052.66,  almost  an  insignificant  amount  in  comparison  with 
the  cost  of  crime,  and  through  the  saving  of  almost  every  child 
from  crime  will  mean  to  the  county  an  investment  that  will 
pay  usurious  interest.  When  one  remembers  that  within  the 
past  six  months  the  clearing  of  an  innocent  person,  William 
Payne,  from  the  chai'ge  of  the  murder  of  Hollie  Hallstead  cost 
Bourbon  county,  Kansas,  $1,776.46 — and  the  real  criminal  still 
at  large — one  gets  some  idea  of  the  levy  that  crime  puts  on  the 
citizen.  Does  it  not  pay  better  to  prevent  the  crime? 

This  must  also  be  considered.  Every  child  that  is  kept  out 
of  the  State  Industrial  Schools  means  a  saving  to  the  state  of 
$200  each  year.  At  present,  owing  to  the  larger  nurnber  of  cases 
coming  up  under  the  new  law,  and  perhaps  also  because  of  a 
misunderstanding  of  the  purpose  of  the  law,  there  seems  to  be 
little  diminution  in  the  number  of  applications  for  commitments. 
The  larger  number  of  cases  coming  to  judicial  notice  indicates 
that  the  child  is  being  better  cared  for.  It  is  safe  to  say,  how¬ 
ever,  that  when  the  system  has  become  perfected  in  operation 
there  will  be  fewer  commitments. 


'i  . 


rf^'f'ii’ 


■>^ 


PART  II. 


THE  COURT  AND  THE  LAW. 

Introductory  Note. 

It  is  hard  to  conceive  of  a  law  so  framed  as  to  contain  more 
pitfalls  to  catch  the  unwary  or  more  inconsistencies  and  deficien¬ 
cies  to'  puzzle  and  try  the  attorney  than  the  present  juvenile  court 
law  of  Kansas.  And  yet  it  is  really  astonishing  how  much  has 
been  accomplished  under  it,  extremely  deficient  as  it  is.  It  sim¬ 
ply  proves  how  great  the  need  is  for  the  system  which  the  law 
stands  for  and  how  much  can  be  done  with  a  little  when  there 
is  sympathy  with  the  intent  of  that  little ;  but  it  also  proves  that 
with  as  efficient  an  instrument  as  is  provided  in  some  other  states 
vastly  better  results  might  be  attained.  From  all  over  the  state 
there  has  come  the  demand  for  a  law  that  is  adequate  to  the 
need,  a  law  that  will  not  only  not  prevent,  but  will  promote, 
the  very  best  results,  a  law  that  will  place  the  state  in  the  fore¬ 
front  in  this  most  important  of  all  services  to  society,  the  splen¬ 
did  formation  of  new  lives  rather  than  the  reformation  of  mis¬ 
used  lives.  It  is  for  this  reason  and  in  this  spirit  and  not  with 
any  purpose  of  minimizing  the  good  already  accomplished  or 
in  any  spirit  of  cynicism  that  not  only  the  excellencies  and  com¬ 
mendable  features  of  the  law  as  it  now  stands  are  pointed  out, 
but  criticisms  of  the  law  and  a  proposed  new  one  ai'e  offered. 

This  latter  is  based  upon  the  best  laws  of  different  states,  but 
with  some  radical  departures  to  suit  conditions  peculiar  to  Kan¬ 
sas.  Perfection  is  not  claimed,  but  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  serve 
as  a  working  basis  from  which  something  better  may  come.  If 
it  seems  at  first  glance  to  be  unduly  long,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  it  not  only  covers  a  wide  field  of  new  law,  but  supplants 
much  old.  It  may  seem  that  too  large  powers  have  been  given 
to  the  State  Board  of  Control,  but  some  one  administrative  board 
should  have  this  authority.  An  examination  of  the  state  char¬ 
itable  systems  of  our  country  will  reveal  no  similar  board  organ¬ 
ized  under  a  more  perfect  law  and  no  board  that  has  accomplished 
in  its  first  year  more  of  permanent  value  and  gives  promise  of 
still  greater  results,  than  our  own  State  Board  of  Control  of 


4S 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


Kansas.  Herein  we  think  is  the  justification  of  conferring  upon 
the  board  such  powers. 

It  will  be  noted  that  at  the  opening  of  each  subdivision  of 
the  “Present  Law  Considered,”  a  portion  of  the  present  Juvenile 
Court  Law  is  quoted ;  this  is  followed  by  its  consideration. 


I 


CHAPTER  I. 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 

a.  Organization  of  the  Court. 

“AN  ACT  to  establish  a  juvenile  court  and  provide  for  the  care 

of  dependent,  neglected  and  delinquent  children. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Kansas: 

Section  1.  That  there  be  and  hereby  is  created  and  estab¬ 
lished  in  each  county  of  the  state  a  court  to  be  known  as  the 
Juvenile  Court,  whose  jurisdiction  shall  pertain  to  the  care  of 
dependent,  neglected  and  delinquent  children.  The  Probate 
Judge  of  each  county  shall  be  the  Judge  of  the  juvenile  court  in 
his  county,  and  he  shall  be  furnished  by  the  Board  of  County 
Commissioners,  at  the  expense  of  the  county,  with  such  dockets, 
records,  and  blanks,  upon  his  requisition,  as  may  be  necessary  in 
the  conduct  of  the  business  of  the  court.  Said  courts  shall  have 
jurisdiction  of  all  cases  concerning  dependent,  neglected  and 
delinquent  children  in  their  respective  counties,  shall  be  open  at 
all  times  for  the  transaction  of  business,  and  may  make  such 
disposition  of  cases  as  is  hereinafter  provided.  They  shall  have 
authority  to  issue  subpoenas  for  witnesses  and  compel  their 
attendance  by  attachment  as  for  contempt,  and  to  issue  all  other 
process  that  may  be  necessary  in  any  case,  the  same  as  justices  of 
the  peace  are  authorized  to  do  in  misdemeanors.  All  writs  and 
process  shall  be  served  by  the  probation  officer  of  the  court,  or 
in  his  absence,  by  some  person  especially  deputized  for  that  pur¬ 
pose  by  the  court.  The  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  shall  receive 
as  compensation  for  his  services  the  same  fees  as  are  allowed 
the  Probate  Judge  for  like  services,  and  said  fees  shall  be  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  all  fees  or  salary  received  by  him  as  Judge  of  the  Pro¬ 
bate  Court;  said  fees  are  to  be  allowed  by  the  county  commis¬ 
sioners  and  paid  out  of  the  country  treasury.” 

The  constitution  of  Kansas  vests  the  legislature  with  power 
to  create  courts  inferior  to  the  supreme  court  and  to  confer  upon 
them  such  jurisdiction  as  it  sees  fit.  This,  it  will  be  noted  from 
the  title  of  the  act,  and  the  first  clause  of  the  first  section,  the 
legislature  has  done.  Juvenile  cases  are  not  merely  added  to 


50 


THE  Jm^ENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


those  under  the  jurisdiction  of  an  old  court  whose  claims  are 
perhaps  considered  as  prior  and  more  pressing,  but  a  new  court 
is  created,  whose  province  is  distinctively  and^  exclusively  to  care 
for  the  cases  of  delinquent  and  dependent  children.  This  is  a 
substantial  advantage,  even  though  the  chief  duties  of  the  court 
fall  upon  the  judge  of  another  court,  provided,  as  is  true  in  Kan¬ 
sas,  that  the  added  duties  of  this  new  court  do  not  make  the 
combined  duties  of  the  judge  too  burdensome.  The  wide  separa¬ 
tion  of  this  from  the  criminal  court,  in  place,  in  name,  in  machin¬ 
ery,  in  method  and  spirit  of  procedure,  is  a  long  step  towards  a 
public  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  business  of  the  juvenile 
court  is  not  to  convict  and  punish  criminals,  but  to  train  and 
restrain  the  wayward  child,  to  protect  and  provide  for  the  unfor¬ 
tunate  child,  to  stand  to  the  child  as  a  true  parent  where  a  derelict 
or  unfortunate  one  has  failed. 

And  yet,  in  most,  perhaps  all,  of  the  counties  of  Kansas  the 
population  is  too  small  and  the  juvenile  cases  too  few  to  require 
the  whole  time  of  a  judge;  to  avoid  the  expense  of  additional 
office  room  and  the  necessity  of  paying  a  fair  salary  for  the  serv¬ 
ices  of  a  capable  man  whose  time  only  in  part  would  be  required 
or  of  paying  a  small  salary  for  inefficient  services  it  was  deemed 
best  to  add  the  duties  of  the  new  court  to  another  office  with 
salary  increased  in  proportion  to  the  additional  services  required. 

It  was  fitting  that  the  Probate  Judge  should  be  chosen  for 
these  new  duties  and  that  he  should  be  made  the  judge  of  the 
juvenile  court  because,  first,  he  is  an  official  found  in  every  county 
of  Kansas;  second,  his  office  already  requires  much  from  him  in 
the  way  of  aid  for. minors,  having  jurisdiction  of  all  cases  of 
apprenticing  and  adopting  of  minors,  and  cases  involving  the 
administration  of  their  estates;  third,  his  duties  are  not  already 
so  exacting  or  multifarious  as  to  make  good  service  impossible 
or  unlikely;  and,  fourth,  the  methods  of  the  Probate  Court  over 
which  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  must  also  preside  are  very 
different  in  practice  and  in  spirit  from  those  of  the  criminal 
court.  The  influences  of  the  probate  court  either  in  court  pro¬ 
cedure  or  in  environment  are  not  harmful  to  young  life. 

Yet  it  is  to  be  noted  there  is  an  element  of  danger  here.  New 
qualifications  that  are  quite  apt  to  be  overlooked  are  required  for 
these  new  and  important  duties.  The  voter  must  remember  that 
the  probate  judge  is  also  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  and  that  the 
latter  office  is  more  exacting  in  its  requirement  of  those  rare 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart  that  make  it  possible  to  handle  chil- 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


51 


dren  wisely  and  well  than  is  the  office  of  probate  judge  with  all 
its  details  of  business.  The  writer  feels  this  danger  the  more 
keenly  because  in  a  few  instances — a  small  per  cent,  happily  it 
may  be  said — letters  from  judges  were  received  which  displayed 
a  lack  both  of  appreciation  of  the  purpose  of  the  Juvenile  Court 
Act  and  of  the  simplest  elements  of  scholarship  without  which 
much  of  real  power  over  the  discerning  mind  of  the  child  is  lost. 
A  yet  more  significant  sign  of  danger  lies  in  the  fact  that  nearly 
forty  per  cent  of  the  juvenile  court  judges  of  Kansas  have  such 
an  utter  want  of  interest  in  their  office  and  in  the  welfare  of  the 
children  of  the  state  as  to  fail  to  take  the  few  minutes  necessary 
to  fill  out  the  blank  and  place  in  a  stamped  envelope  furnished 
for  the  purpose.  It  is,  of  course,  fair  to  assume  that  this  forty  per 
cent  is  doing  much  less  in  proportion  to  its  numbers  to  carry  out 
the  intent  of  the  law  than  is  the  sixty  per  cent.  The  voter  here 
as  elsewhere  has  sovereign  power  to  right  such  conditions. 

In  its  choice  between  existing  courts  we  believe  the  legisla¬ 
ture  acted  wisely,  but  it  is  a  question  worthy  of  the  legislature’s 
most  careful  consideration  whether  it  would  not  be  a  yet  better 
plan  to  merge  the  justice  of  the  peace  court  and  the  probate  court 
into  a  county  court  whose  jurisdiction  would  cover  the  field  of 
the  two  courts  including,  as  in  Colorado,  juvenile  cases  and  cases 
of  adults  where  children  are  of  prime  concern.  Such  a  court 
would  be  presided  over  by  better  legal  talent  because  of  the 
greater  importance  of  the  office  and  the  better  salary  paid,  with 
the  result  of  better  service  rendered  in  the  performance  of  the 
duties  of  the  old  courts,  and  the  new  court  would  command  the 
respect  and  the  practice  before  it  of  the  bar  such  as  neither  of 
the  old  courts  can  have.  This  new  court  would  have  the  criminal 
and  civil  jurisdiction  of  the  justice  of  peace  court,  a  jurisdic¬ 
tion  which  to  some  degree  at  least  a  juvenile  court  must  have 
if  it  is  to  handle  parents’  cases.  There  might  still  be  such  a 
minimum  of  criminal  cases  before  it  as  not  to  disqualify  it  as  a 
children’s  court.  To  such  a  change  the  Kansas  bar  is  generally 
favorable.  In  case  the  courts  were  merged  the  law  which  we 
propose  would  need  to  be  modified  only  in  those  provisions 
establishing  the  court. 

It  has  been  the  experience  of  those  who  have  worked  under 
the  law  in  its  present  form  that  its  arrangement  is  confusing. 
According  to  the  title  of  the  act  its  purpose  is  two-fold:  “To 
establish  a  juvenile  court  and  provide  for  the  care  of  dependent, 
neglected  and  delinquent  children,”  the  latter  end  to  be  attained. 


52 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  ELYNSAS. 


of  course,  through  the  court.  Besides,  then,  the  mere  establish¬ 
ing  of  the  court  with  its  mode  of  procedure,  provision  must  be 
made  respecting  its  jurisdiction  over,  and  care  for,  the  above 
named  classes  of  children.  Throughout  the  act  dependent  and 
neglected  children  are  grouped  in  one  class  and  delinquent  in 
another.  It  would  be  quite  as  well  and  simpler  if  one  term 
properly  defined  were  used  for  the  dependent  and  neglected, 
since  the  definition  of  the  term  would  determine  the  cases  to  be 
included.  It  becomes  a  more  serious  matter  when  it  happens,  as 
it  frequently  does,  that  in  one  section  first  one  of  the  general 
classes  is  treated  of  and  then  the  other  and  sometimes  there 
is  difficulty  in  determining  which  class  is  referred  to.  This  is 
especially  true  in  Sections  8,  9,  and  10.  There  should  be  a 
general  division  of  the  act  devoted  to  the  organization  of  the 
court.  Another  division  should  contain  all  matter  that  is  com¬ 
mon  to  all  or  most  cases.  Other  divisions  should  be  devoted  to 
cases  where  special  provision  or  procedure  is  demanded. 

The  court’s  jurisdiction  under  the  present  act  is  not  suf¬ 
ficiently  broad  to  do  well  the  work  entrusted  to  it.  The  law 
limits  its  jurisdiction  to  juvenile  cases.  This  of  itself  were 
not  an  evil,  in  view  of  the  purpose  of  the  court,  but  that  the 
limit  set  in  all  good  faith  becomes  undesignedly  something  quite 
different.  Adult  delinquency  is  not  a  thing  that  the  juvenile 
court  is  primarily  designed  to  handle.  The  only  ground  for 
extending  the  court’s  authority  is  as  a  means  of  approaching  the 
solution  of  a  juvenile  problem.  But  when  such  an  approach  is 
the  only  practicable  one,  to  deny  the  court  this  extension  of 
authority  is  to  hamper  it  in  its  own  proper  sphere.  Not  for  the 
sake  of  the  adult,  though  he  is  to  be  considered,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  child  whose  greater  interests  are  at  stake  should  every 
juvenile  court  act  include  an  adult  delinquency  provision.  It 
means  not  only  the  power  to  punish  a  person  responsible  for  the 
delinquency  of  another,  but,  what  is  of  greater  significance,  the 
power  to  enforce  through  the  responsible  adult  the  orders 
against  an  irresponsible  child.  When  a  judge  gives  orders  that  a 
child  shall  keep  off  a  certain  street  or  away  from  certain  sur¬ 
roundings  or  shall  meet  other  requirements  for  its  welfare,  the 
adult  delinquency  act  gives  the  court  power  to  compel  the  parent 
or  other  responsible  person  to  carry  out  the  orders  respecting  the 
child.  What  is  of  quite  as  much  importance  in  considering  such 
a  provision  is  that  it  becomes  a  stimulus  to  negligent  parents  to 
prevent  juvenile  delinquency.  It  is  a  sad  commentary  on  the 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


53 


conditions  existing  in  many  American  homes,  even  in  an  agri¬ 
cultural  state  and  indeed  in  rural  communities,  that  such  a  stim¬ 
ulus  is  needed.  The  causes  of  such  conditions  need  not  be  dis¬ 
cussed  here,  but  the  facts  must  be  faced.  Parents  have  a  respon- 
siblity  and  it  is  not  only  the  state’s  right  but  a  duty  it  owes  to 
the  child  to  see  that  they  shoulder  that  responsibility.  It  has 
been  contended  that  Kansas  has  an  adult  delinquency  law,  but 
search  fails  to  discover  anything  that  is  at  all  adequate  to  the 
need  and  it  is  certain  no  such  law  is  being  observed  except  as 
relating  to  truancy  and  to  behavior  in  the  school,  where  such  a 
provision  is  working  well.  Where  the  judges  of  the  state  have 
expressed  themselves  on  the  matter  at  all,  they  are  nearly  a  unit 
in  demanding  this  added  power  as  an  instrument  both  of  the  pre¬ 
vention  of  juvenile  delinquency  and  of  the  control  of  the  juvenile 
delinquent.  For  the  proposed  adult  delinquency  provision,  see 
Section  25  of  the  Proposed  Act. 

The  juvenile  court  should  have  the  further  power  of  com¬ 
pelling  parents  or  other  persons  responsible  for  the  dependency 
of  a  child  to  maintain  and  properly  care  for  it  when  they  are 
able  so  to  do.  As  illustrative  of  what  is  going  on  the  following, 
taken  from  the  Topeka  Herald,  October  21,  1905,  is  a  fair  exam¬ 
ple:  “But  one  day  a  woman  reported  to  him  (Judge  Hayden) 
as  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  that  her  thirteen-year-old  daugh¬ 
ter  was  running  the  streets  at  night  and  ought  to  be  sent  to  the 
reform  school.  The  Judge  had  the  child  brought  into  his  office 
and  discovered  that  she  was  innocent.  Then  he  investigated  the 
record  of  the  mother  and  found  that  she  was  a  woman  of  the 
street.  The  woman  was  sent  for  and  admitted,  after  some  denial, 
that  she  had  lied  about  her  little  girl  in  order  to  get  rid  of  her. 
She  readily  consented  to  giving  up  not  only  the  child  first  men¬ 
tioned,  but  her  two  younger  children  as  well.  The  three  were 
turned  over  to  the  Topeka  Orphans’  Home  Association,  which 
placed  them  in  homes  upon  which  the  court  had  stamped  its 
approval.” 

It  is  quite  possible  that  the  children  of  such  a  mother  should 
be  taken  from  her.  Children  should  never  be  sacrificed  to 
parents’  gross  neglect.  What  we  do  maintain  is  that  the  above 
able-bodied  mother  and  the  father,  too,  if  alive  and  his  where¬ 
abouts  known,  should  be  compelled  to  support  their  children, 
whatever  disposition  of  them  the  court  might  make.  It  would 
have  the  salutary  effect  of  lessening  the  number  of  cases  where 
separation  is  really  necessary  and  it  would  be  justice  to  the  pub- 


54 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  ICANSAS. 


lie  that  supports  these  charges  when  the  welfare  of  the  child 
demanded  separation  from  its  parents. 

Dr,  C.  E.  Faulkner,  formerly  of  Kansas,  says  of  the  first  year 
of  the  juvenile  court  in  New  York  City:  “The  court’s  experience 
with  parents  willing  to  shift  the  care  of  children  to  public  guard¬ 
ianship,  simply  to  avoid  the  cost  of  their  support  and  educa¬ 
tion,  led  to  the  adoption  of  a  law  to  compel  a  contribution  of  not 
less  than  $2  per  week,  in  the  discretion  of  the  court.  The  report 
of  the  probation  officer  shows  that  of  639  children  released  on 
probation  among  this  difficult  class  of  children,  15  per  cent  were 
committed  to  institutions  for  a  violation  of  their  parole.”  Such 
a  law  is  one  of  the  most  effectual  means  in  the  hands  of  the  court 
of  reducing  or  preventing  juvenile  dependency,  and  dependency 
in  the  widest  sense  of  the  term,  including  the  case  of  neglect 
where  physicial  maintenance  may  not  be  lacking.  And  some 
provision  is  quite  as  important  for  the  latter  case,  indeed  more 
so,  as  for  the  case  of  non-support.  For  neglect  is  always  culpable. 
Non-support  may  under  certain  conditions  be  excusable.  Kansas 
has  a  non-support  act  upon  its  statute  book,  but  it  is  not  com¬ 
prehensive  enough  to  include  all  cases  of  dependency.  Neverthe¬ 
less  we  quote  it  that  judges  who  may  have  overlooked  it  may 
have  some  recourse  in  law  against  shiftless  fathers.  It  may  be 
used  very  effectively  in  some  cases.  Section  2281,  G.  S.,  1901 : 
“Any  able-bodied  married  man  who  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  pro¬ 
vide  for  the  support  of  his  family,  shall  be  deemed  a  vagrant,  and 
upon  conviction  thereof  may  be  fined  in  any  sum  not  exceeding 
five  hundred  (500)  dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  in  the  county 
jail.”  Section  3331,  G.  S.,  1901,  also  has  a  provision  which 
should  be  remembered  by  judges  that  the  adjudged  father  of 
an  illegitimate  child  shall  “stand  charged  with  the  maintenance 
and  education  thereof.”  There  is  yet  another  statute  (Sections 
4205-4206,  G.  S.,  1901)  which  may  be  made  to  cover  certain 
cases  of  dependency  in  the  nature  of  neglect.  We  quote  it  in  the 
list  of  statutes  for  the  protection  of  children.  All  of  these  sec¬ 
tions  together  may  be  used  to  good  advantage  in  lieu  of  some¬ 
thing  better,  but  still  they  are  mere  makeshifts  when  compared 
to  a  law  that  explicitly  stated  will  cover  all  possible  cases  and 
that  has  a  court  whose  special  function  is  to  convict  those  guilty 
of  its  infringement,  as,  for  instance,  the  Colorado  act  concern¬ 
ing  parents  or  others  responsible  for  the  dependency  of  children. 
Both  the  adult  contributory  delinquency  and  the  adult  contribu¬ 
tory  dependency  provisions  (See  Sections  29  to  34  for  the  latter) 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


65 

of  the  Proposed  Act,  are  based  upon  Colorado  law  modified  to 
suit  Kansas  conditions. 

The  power  of  the  court  could  well  be  extended  to  include 
cases  where  the  protection  of  the  child  is  involved  which  would 
include  those  coming  under  numerous  minor  laws  now  on  the 
statute  books.  Judge  Lindsey  says :  “We  consider  it  a  step 
backward  rather  than  forward  to  provide  for  a  special  court 
limited  to  children’s  cases  only  unless  it.  is  given  general  and 
unlimited  criminal  and  chancery  court  jurisdiction  in  order  that 
it  may  successfully  handle  all  cases  against  or  concerning  adults 
where  a  child  is  involved.”  That  is  to  say,  where  the  violation 
of  a  law,  whether  on  the  part  of  adult  or  child,  directly  involves 
the  child,  the  juvenile  court  should  be  made  competent  to  handle 
the  case.  And  with  this  we  agree.  See  title  of  Proposed  Act. 
Here  are  a  few  of  the  Kansas  statutes  for  the  protection  of 
children  which  should  be  enforced  in  the  juvenile  court.  The 
sections,  unless  otherwise  stated,  are  of  the  General  Statutes 
of  1901. 

Section  2016  relates  to  rape,  fixing  the  age  of  consent  at 
eighteen  years. 

Sections  2031-2039  relate  to  cases  of  kidnapping,  enticing,  or 
exposing  a. child;  of  cruelty  to  it,  its  abandonment,  or  its  employ¬ 
ment  in  forbidden  occupations;  of  placing  a  child  in  a  house  of 
ill-fame  for  immoral  purposes;  relate  to  the  duties  of  regular 
and  special  officers,  of  county  attorneys  and  attorneys  of  child¬ 
saving  societies,  and  to  the  examination  and  commitment  by  the 
court  of  abused  and  neglected  children. 

Section  2261  makes  the  selling  of  poison  to  minors  without 
the  consent  of  parent  or  guardian  a  misdemeanor. 

Sections  2382-2384  have  the  following  provisions  concerning 
furnishing  minors  with  tobacco;  “That  it  shall  be  unlawful  for 
any  person  or  persons  in  this  state  to  sell,  give  or  furnish  any 
cigar,  cigarette,  or  tobacco  in  any  form,  opium  or  any  othe’' 
narcotic  in  any  form,  to  any  minor  under  sixteen  (16)  years  of 
age.  The  violation  of  any  provision  under  this  act  shall  con¬ 
stitute  a  misdemeanor,  and  any  person  found  guilty  thereof  shall 
be  fined  in  any  sum  not  less  than  five  (5)  dollars  nor  exceeding 
twenty-five  (25)  dollars  for  each  and  every  such  offense.  The 
provisions  of  this  act  shall  not  apply  to  the  sale  of  any  narcotic 
made  upon  the  prescription  of  a  regular  practicing  physician.” 
The  intent  of  the  law  is  good,  but  an  infusion  of  red  blood  would 
broaden  its  provisions  and  make  the  punishment  commensurate 


5G 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


with  the  crime.  Include  cigarette  paper;  raise  the  age  limit  to 
at  least  eighteen;  increase  the  fine,  and  make  a  jail  sentence 
possible;  and  above  all,  enforce  the  law  against  the  worse  than 
ghouls  who  dare  to  traffic  in  the  living  bodies  and  souls  of  our 
boys. 

Section  2394  makes  the  sale  of  weapons  or  toy  pistols  to 
minors  a  misdemeanor. 

Section  2481,  concerning  the  treating  of  intoxicants  to  minors, 
reads  as  follows:  “The  treating  or  giving  of  any  intoxicating 
liquors  to  any  minor  by  any  person  other  than  the  father,  mother, 
or  guardian  of  such  minor,  or  a  physician  for  medical  purposes, 
shall  be  unlawful ;  and  any  person  violating  the  provisions  of  this 
section  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  upon  con¬ 
viction  thereof  shall  be  punished  therefor  as  provided  in  the 
last  preceding  section  of  this  act  for  unlawfully  selling  intoxi¬ 
cating  liquors”  (“fined  in  any  sum  not  less  than  one  hundred 
dollars  nor  more  than  five  hundred  dollars,  and  shall  be  impris¬ 
oned  in  the  county  jail  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  thirty  days 
nor  more  than  six  months”). 

Section  4140  is  an  important  one  in  coal  mining  districts: 
“No  person  under  twelve  years  of  age  shall  be  allowed  to  work 
in  any  coal  mine,  nor  any  minor  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and 
sixteen  years  unless  he  can  read  and  write  and  furnish  a  cer¬ 
tificate  from  a  school  teacher,  which  shall  be  kept  on  file,  showing 
that  he  has  attended  school  at  least  three  months  during  the 
year;  and  in  all  cases  of  minors  applying  for  work,  the  agent 
of  such  coal  mine  shall  see  that  the  provisions  of  this  section  are 
not  violated;  and  upon  conviction  of  a  willful  violation  of  this 
section  of  this  act,  the  agent  of  such  coal  mine  shall  be  fined  in 
any  sum  not  to  exceed  fifty  dollars  for  each  and  every  offense.” 

S.  L.  of  1905,  Chapter  278,  is  the  Child  Labor  Law.  The  statute 
quoted  above  concerning  the  employment  of  children  in  mines  is 
superseded  only  in  part  by  this  later  law,  which  is  excellent  in 
its  provisions  and  dovetails  well  with  the  Compulsory  Eduction 
Law  (S.  L.  of  1903,  Chapter  423)  which  provides  in  Section  1  for 
the  attendance  of  every  child  between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fif¬ 
teen  years  upon  some  school  during  such  period  as  it  is  in  session. 
Among  other  exceptions  in  this  latter  act  is  this  one :  “Any  child 
of  the  age  of  fourteen  years  or  more  who  is  able  to  read  and 
write  the  English  language,  and  who  is  actively  and  regularly 
employed  for  his  own  support  or  for  the  support  of  those  depend¬ 
ent  upon  him,  shall  not  be  required  to  attend  the  aforesaid  schools 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


57 


for  a  longer  period  or  term  than  eight  consecutive  weeks  in  any 
one  year.”  It  will  be  observed  from  a  reading  of  the  Child 
Labor  Law  below,  that  no  gainful  occupations,  except  such  as  are 
dangerous  or  injurious  in  themselves  or  surroundings  to  life, 
limb,  health,  or  morals,  are  prohibited  to  children  above  the 
age  of  fourteen.  This  is  important.  The  Compulsory  School 
Law  applies  only  to  children  in  the  common  school,  from  which 
they  are  rarely  graduated  before  the  age  of  fourteen.  Upon 
practically  all  children,  then,  the  law  is  binding  until  the  age 
of  fourteen,  and  upon  many  until  fifteen.  This  precludes  the 
possibility  of  there  being  an  extended  interim  when  a  child  may 
be  out  of  school  and  at  the  same  time  prohibited  from  gainful 
occupations.  While  many  are  free  from  the  common  school  at 
fourteen  and  all  at  fifteen,  the  prohibited  occupations  are  so  few 
as  to  work  no  hardship  to  the  child.  It  is  quite  as  essential  in 
a  good  Child  Labor  Law  that  it  put  no  premium  upon  idleness, 
which  is  the  scourge  of  both  children  and  adults  everywhere,  as 
to  provide  for  schooling  and  against  injury  from  work.  With 
schooling  provided  for,  the  child  should  be  allowed  and  encour¬ 
aged  to  work  under  proper  conditions.  With  respect  to  the  above 
mentioned  interim  several  states,  notably  Illinois,  are  having  con¬ 
siderable  difficulty  just  now,  and  Kansas  is  to  be  congratulated 
in  this  good  feature  of  the  law.  It  would  be  an  advantage  if 
there  were  at  least  a  partial  definition  of  the  “dangerous  occupa¬ 
tions,”  about  which  there  could  be  no  question.  Another  fact 
which  is  apt  to  be  overlooked  in  the  first  reading  of  the  law  is 
that  it  requires  all  employers  of  children  to  obtain  a  certificate 
of  the  age  of  the  child  employed.  This  provision  applies  not 
merely  to  the  employers  named  in  Section  1,  but  to  all  employers 
of  children,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  is  generally  observed. 
It  supplements  .splendidly  the  Compulsory  Education  Law,  but 
is  deficient  in  one  respect.  If  the  child  is  under  fifteen  the  cer¬ 
tificate  should  state  its  scholastic  attainments  and  the  manner 
in  which  it  is  complying  with  the  Compulsory  Education  Law. 
Truant  and  probation  officers  should  make  a  careful  study  of  the 
two  laws  concerning  child  labor  in  connection  with  the  Com¬ 
pulsory  Education  Law.  The  Child  Labor  Law  of  1905  follows : 

“AN  ACT  concerning  child  labor,  prohibiting  the  employment  in 
factories,  packing-houses  and  mines  of  persons  under  four¬ 
teen  years  of  age,  and  regulating  the  employment  in  other 
occupations  or  places  of  persons  under  sixteen  years  of  age. 


58 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Kansas: 

Section  1.  No  child  under  fourteen  years  of  age  shall  be 
employed  at  any  time  in  any  factory  or  packing-houses  or  in  or 
about  any  mine.  No  person  under  sixteen  years  of  age  shall  be 
employed  at  any  occupation  or  at  any  place  dangerous  or  injur¬ 
ious  to  life,  limb,  health  or  morals. 

Section  2.  All  persons,  firms,  or  corporations  employing 
children  shall  be  required  first  to  obtain  a  certificate  of  age 
of  such  children,  where  possible,  from  the  school  board,  prin¬ 
cipal  of  school  or  teacher  of  the  school  in  district  or  city  wherein 
such  children  reside.  Said  certificate  shall  be  issued  without 
charge;  shall  be  substantially  in  the  following  form: 

State  of  Kansas,  County  of . ,  . City 

or  District. 

This  certifies  that . ,  according  to  the 

records  of  this  school  and  from  all  the  knowledge  that  I  can 

obtain,  was  born  at . ,  in . county, 

and . city,  of  the  State  of . ,  and 

is  now  under . years  of  age. 

(Signed) . 

To  which  shall  be  added  the  name  of  the  school  district  or 
city  and  the  official  position  of  the  member  of  the  board,  prin¬ 
cipal  or  teacher  signing  the  same.  When  it  is  impossible  to 
secure  the  certificate  hereinabove  provided  for  as  to  the  age  of 
the  child,  the  firm,  person  or  corporation  employing  such  child 
shall  secure  a  statement  of  the  age  of  such  child  from  the  parent 
or  legal  guardian  of  such  child,  which  statement  shall  be  verified 
under  oath  before  some  officer  authorized  to  administer ,  oaths. 
Such  certificate  shall  be  sufficient  protection  to  the  employer  of 
any  child  as  to  the  age  of  such  child,  except  when  such  employer 
has  actual  knowledge  of  the  falsity  of  such  certificate;  and  all 
such  certificates  shall  be  kept  constantly  on  file  in  a  convenient 
place,  and  shall  at  all  times  be  open  to  the  inspection  of  the 
proper  authorities,  as  provided  in  this  act. 

Section  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  state  factory  inspector, 
state  inspector  of  mines  and  their  deputies  to  inspect  the  cer¬ 
tificates  hereinabove  provided  for,  to  examine  children  employed 
in  factories,  mines  and  packing-houses  as  to  their  age,  and  to 
file  complaints  in  any  court  of  competent  jurisdiction  to  enforce 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county 


PKESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


59 


attorney  of  the  proper  county  to  appear  and  prosecute  all  com¬ 
plaints  so  filed. 

Section  4.  Any  person,  firm  or  corporation  employing  any 
person  or  child  in  violation  of  any  provisions  of  this  act,  or  per¬ 
mitting  or  conniving  at  such  violation,  shall  be  deemed  guilty 
of  a  misdemeanor,  and  upon  conviction  thereof  shall  be  fined  in 
a  sum  not  less  than  twenty-five  dollars  nor  more  than  one  hun¬ 
dred  dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  not  less  than 
thirty  days  nor  more  than  ninety  days. 

Section  5.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from 
and  after  its  publication  in  the  official  state  paper.” 

Section  4192  provides  that  a  judge  may  exclude  minors  from 
the  court  room  or  place  of  trial  or  hearing  when  evidence  is  vul¬ 
gar,  obscene,  or  immoral. 

Section  4205  is  the  statute  referred  to  in  the  discussion  of 
juvenile  dependency  caused  by  adults.  It  should  be  enforced 
most  rigidly.  It  reads ;  “Any  person  over  sixteen  years  of 
age  who  having  the  care,  custody,  control  or  charge  of  a  child, 
being  a  boy  under  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  or  being  a  girl 
under  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  who  willfully  ill-treats,  neglects, 
abandons,  or  exposes  such  child,  or  causes  or  procures  such 
child  to  be  ill-treated,  neglected,  abandoned  or  exposed,  in  a 
manner  likely  to  cause  such  child  unnecessary  suffering  or  ser¬ 
ious  injury  to  its  health,  shall  be  guilty  of  an  offense  under  this 
act,  and  on  conviction  thereof,  by  a  court  of  summary  jurisdic¬ 
tion,  shall  be  liable,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court,  to  a  fine  not 
exceeding  one  hundred  dollars,  or,  in  addition  thereto,  to  impris¬ 
onment  to  a  term  not  exceeding  three  months.” 

Section  4206  prescribes  the  mode  of  procedure  for  violation 
of  Section  4205. 

The  above  statutes  are  the  most  important  ones  for  the  pro¬ 
tection  of  childen  on  the  Kansas  statute  book.  With  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  the  labor  laws  no  special  provision  is  made  for  their 
enforcement  with  the  result  that  a  great  deal  of  good  law  is 
virtually  rendered  null  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  children. 
Impose  their  enforcement  upon  the  juvenile  court.  Concentrate 
the  responsibility  for  their  proper  observance  in  this  one  court; 
then,  in  the  event  of  failure,  the  fault  can  be  definitely  located 
and  the  remedy  easily  applied. 

The  powers  of  the  probation  officer  enumerated  in  Sections 
1  and  3  of  the  Juvenile  Court  Act  should  be  somewhat  extended. 
He  should  have  the  powers  of  the  county  attorney  to  file  com- 


GO 


THE  Jm^ENlLE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  IU4NSAS. 


plaints  and  conduct  proceedings  in  all  cases  in  the  juvenile  court. 
See  Section  13  of  the  Proposed  Act.  This  extension  of  authority 
will  be  especially  needful  with  an  adult  delinquency  provision. 

There  has  been  some  question  raised  as  to  the  manner  of  com¬ 
pensating  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  which  under  the  law 
is  by  fees.  At  present,  under  the  constitution,  the  probate  judge 
is  paid  under  the  fee  system.  In  all  probability,  however,  the 
necessity  for  being  so  paid  will  be  removed  this  fall  by  an 
amendment  to  the  constitution,  which  by  act  of  the  last  legis¬ 
lature  is  to  be  passed  upon  by  the  people  at  the  fall  (1906) 
election.  Should  this  amendment  carry,  the  legislature  next 
winter  will  probably  place  the  probate  judge  on  a  salary  grad¬ 
uated  to  the  population  of  the  county.  With  the  law  providing 
compensation  for  the  probate  judge  as  it  is,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  devise  any  satisfactory  method  of  remuneration  for  his  serv¬ 
ices  as  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  other  than  the  present  one. 
But  the  fee  system  at  its  best  is  apt  to  prove  unsatisfactory. 
It  puts  a  premium  on  the  getting  of  business,  which  in  matters 
of  law  is  not  usually  desirable.  If  a  change  in  the  law  places 
the  probate  judge  on  a  salary  depending  in  amount  on  the 
population  of  the  county,  such  amount  should  be  so  reckoned 
as  to  include  his  services  as  judge  of  the  juvenile  court. 

h.  Definitions  of  Terms. 

“Section  2.  This  act  shall  apply  only  to  children  under  the 
age  of  sixteen  years,  not  now  or  hereinafter  inmates  of  any 
state  institution  or  any  industrial  school  for  boys  or  indus¬ 
trial  school  for  girls  or  some  institution  incorporated  under  the 
laws  of  this  state;  provided,  that  when  jurisdiction  has  been 
acquired  under  the  provision  hereof  over  the  person  of  a  child, 
such  jurisdiction  may  continue  for  the  purposes  of  this  act 
until  the  child  has  attained  its  majority.  For  the  purpose  of 
this  act,  the  words  ‘dependent  child’  and  ‘neglected  child’  shall 
mean  any  child  who  for  any  reason  is  destitute  or  homeless  or 
abandoned,  or  dependent  upon  the  public  for  support,  or  has 
not  proper  parental  care  or  guardianship,  and  has  idle  and 
immoral  habits,  or  who  habitually  begs  or  receives  alms,  or  who 
is  found  living  in  any  house  of  ill-fame  or  with  any  vicious  or 
disreputable  persons ;  or  whose  home,  by  reason  of  neglect, 
cruelty  or  depravity  on  the  part  of  its  parents,  guardian  or  other 
person  in  whose  care  it  may  be,  is  an  unfit  place  for  such  a 
child ;  or  any  child  under  the  age  of  ten  years  who  is  found  beg- 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


61 


ging,  peddling  or  selling  any  article,  or  singing  or  playing  any 
musical  instrument  upon  the  street,  or  who  accompanies  or  is 
used  in  aid  of  any  person  so  doing.  The  words  ‘delinquent 
child’  shall  include  any  child  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years  who 
violates  any  law  of  this  state,  or  any  city,  town  or  village  ord¬ 
inance;  or  who  is  incorrigible;  or  who  knowingly  associates  with 
thieves,  vicious  or  immoral  persons;  or  who  is  growing  up  in 
idleness  or  crime;  or  who  knowingly  patronizes  any  pool  rooms 
or  place  where  gambling  devices  are  operated.  The  word  ‘child’ 
or  ‘children’  may  mean  one  or  more  children,  and  the  word 
‘parents’  may  be  held  to  mean  one  or  both  parents,  when  con¬ 
sistent  with  the  intent  of  this  act.  The  word  ‘association’  shall 
include  any  corporation  which  includes  in  its  purpose  the  care 
or  discipline  of  children  coming  within  the  meaning  of  this  act.” 

The  definitions  of  the  terms  “delinquent  child”  and  “depend¬ 
ent  child,”  as  set  forth  in  Section  2  of  the  Kansas  law,  are  not  as 
broad  as  those  found  in  the  juvenile  court  laws  of  some  other 
states,  but  at  least  the  latter  one  of  the  two  is  peculiar  in  one 
or  two  respects.  In  addition  to  the  usual  conditions  prescribed 
for  dependency  there  is  the  provision  that  “any  child  under  the 
age  of  ten  years  who  is  found  begging,  peddling  or  selling  any 
article,  or  singing  or  playing  any  musical  instrument  upon  the 
street,  or  who  accompanies  or  is  used  in  aid  of  any  person  so 
doing”  shall  be  declared  dependent. 

But  while  the  definition  of  the  “dependent  child”  is  good  in 
the  above-mentioned  particular,  the  definitions  of  both  terms  are 
quite  too  restricted.  The  Illinois  and  Colorado  laws  are  much 
more  inclusive  and  give  the  judge  a  netw'ork  that  will  rarely  fail 
to  catch  the  child  who  ought  to  be  cared  for,  while  the  discretion 
of  the  judge  will  never  allow  the  law  to  become  a  tyrant  in  its 
exactions.  The  old  Kansas  law,  enacted  in  1901  (Section  4199, 
G.  S.,  1901),  defining  the  term  “dependent  and  neglected  child”  is 
good,  but  still  fails  in  comprehensiveness.  In  Section  11  of  the 
Proposed  Act,  we  have  attempted  the  definitions  of  these  terms. 

Since  the  Juvenile  Court  Act  in  its  definition  of  delinquency 
includes  the  violation  of  any  state  law,  it  would  be  well  at  this 
point  to  notice  three  or  four  laws  that  are  especially  applicable 
to  children.  These  should  assist  the  court  in  determining  the 
delinquency  of  a  child,  and  especial  attention  should  be  given  to 
their  observance. 

Section  2385  makes  trespassing  in  public  buildings  and  the 
defacing  of  public  property  a  misdemeanor.  While  this  law  is 


62 


THE  JIA^ENILE  COUET  SYSTEM  OF  ICANSAS. 


applicable  to  any  one,  its  violation  is  peculiarly  a  juvenile  offense. 

Section  2395  makes  the  possession  of  dangerous  weapons, 
including  toy  pistols,  on  the  part  of  any  minor  a  misdemeanor. 

Section  2409  makes  certain  offenses  of  wards  of  the  State 
Industrial  Schools  triable  in  the  district  court  and  punishable 
by  sentence  to  the  State  Reformatory  in  case  of  boys  and  to  the 
penitentiary  in  case  of  girls.  The  law  emphasizes  the  urgent 
need  of  a  State  Reformatory  for  girls  between  the  ages  of  sixteen 
and  twenty-five,  who  should  no  more  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary 
in  many  cases  than  boys  within  those  ages.  Though  the  law 
was  enacted  as  recently  as  1901  and  since  the  enactment  of  the 
statute  making  felony  for  children  under  sixteen  impossible,  it 
is  doubtful  in  view  of  the  latter  law  and  the  general  policy  of 
the  state  whether  it  would  be  construed  in  court  to  include  child¬ 
ren  in  the  State  Industrial  Schools  under  sixteen.  Since  many  of 
the  wards  of  these  schools  are  out  on  parole  the  law  should  be 
kept  in  mind  by  juvenile  court  judges  as  giving  the  jurisdiction 
of  these  offenses  to  the  district  court  and  prescribing  the  pun¬ 
ishment  for  such  offenses. 

Section  2414,  relating  to  stealing  rides  on  trains,  applies  to 
anj^  one,  but  its  violation  is  also  peculiarly  a  juvenile  offense  and 
is  a  misdemeanor. 

S.  L.  of  1903,  Chapter  423,  is  the  Compulsory  Education  or 
Truancy  Law.  Its  provisions  are  among  the  best  of  its  kind 
in  all  the  states,  and  its  success  is  deserving  of  wide  notice.  It 
goes  right  to  the  root  of  the  problem  and  holds  the  responsible 
adult  liable  for  both  the  regular  attendance  of  the  child  and  its 
good  conduct  in  school.  As  we  said  before,  no  better  argument  for 
a  general  adult  delinquency  act  exists  in  Kansas  legislation  than 
the  way  this  limited  act  of  the  same  kind  is  working.  A  part 
of  its'  success  is  due  no  doubt  to  the  fact  that  the  probation  officer 
in  some  counties,  as  in  Shawnee,  has  charge  of  all  city  and 
county  cases  of  truancy,  and  that  if  the  juvenile  cases  come 
before  any  court  they  must  come  before  the  juvenile  court  of 
which  he  is  the  officer.  The  cases  are  in  the  hands  of  one  person 
from  beginning  to  end.  The  provision  of  the  law  for  a  careful 
census  of  the  children  of  the  community,  with  especial  attention 
paid  to  the  age,  should  obviate  all  difficulty  in  the  enforcement 
of  the  Child  Labor  Law. 

Further  attention  is  given  to  legislation  concerning  delin¬ 
quent  children  in  the  discussion  on  Section  9. 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


63 


The  term  “children”  is  restricted  primarily  to  those  under 
sixteen,  but  children  who  have  once  come  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  court  remain  thus  for  all  purposes  of  the  Act  until  they 
have  attained  their  majority.  Not  only  wards  of  a  state  insti¬ 
tution  but  wards  of  any  incorporated  institution  that  cares  for 
delinquent  and  dependent  children  are  exempt  from  the  pro¬ 
visions  of  this  Act. 

The  use  of  the  terms  “institution”  and  “association”  through¬ 
out  the  Act  is  attended  with  considerable  confusion.  In  the 
beginning  of  Section  2,  if  State  Industrial  Schools  are  included 
in  the  expression  “any  state  institution,”  as  they  should  be,  the 
schools  mentioned  in  the  expression  “any  industrial  school  for 
boys  or  industrial  school  for  girls”  are  voluntary  organizations 
and  as  such  should  be  included  within  the  expression  “some 
institution  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  state.”  If  these 
schools  are  not  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  state,  why 
should  they  be  placed  upon  a  plane  different  from  that  of  the  asso¬ 
ciations  and  permitted  to  act  as  wardens  of  children  independent 
of  the  juvenile  courts?  There  is  even  less  ground  for  such  a 
concession  to  unincorporated  schools  than  to  the  association,  for 
the  latter  organization  is  incorporated  and  must  act  within  well 
defined  and  legalized  limits.  “Institution”  is  nowhere  defined  in 
the  Act.  It  is  fair  to  infer  that  it  is  used  as  in  other  similar 
acts,  to  mean  a  corporation  possessing  or  at  least  using  buildings 
and  in  this  re.spect  differing  from  “association,”  which  in  the 
latter  part  of  this  section  is  defined  as  “any  corporation  which 
includes  within  its  purpose  the  care  or  discipline  of  children 
coming  within  the  meaning,  of  this  Act.”  This  distinction  seems 
probable,  since  throughout  the  Act  precedence  over  the  asso¬ 
ciation  is  given  to  the  institution.  In  Sections  7  and  9  both 
expressions,  “suitable  institution”  and  “association,”  are  used 
with  the  implication,  of  course,  that  they  have  different  mean¬ 
ings.  In  Sections  8  and  10  “institution”  is  omitted  as  being 
something  not  properly  subject  to  a  juvenile  court.  It  would 
seem,  then,  that  the  “association”  is  on  a  level  with  the  “indi¬ 
vidual”  in  being  amenable  to  the  juvenile  court,  while  the  insti¬ 
tution  acts  independently  of  that  court. 

With  the  exception  of  the  kind  of  schools  referred  to,  the 
obscurity  in  this  section  respecting  terms  is  not  great.  At  its 
beginning  “inmates”  becomes  a  saving  word,  thus  specializing 
the  institutions  and  schools.  But  the  confusion  comes  elsewhere 
in  the  Act  in  the  failure  to  define  terms  in  this  the  defining  sec- 


C4  THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  ICANSAS. 

tion  and  in  using  them  loosely  elsewhere.  When  by  “institution” 
is  the  voluntary  institution  meant,  and  when  the  state  insti¬ 
tution?  Is  the  word  “state”  always  used  with  “institution”  when 
a  state  institution  is  meant?  The  following  construction  seems 
to  be  such  as  can  do  no  violence  to  the  meaning  throughout: 
When  state  institution  alone  is  meant,  the  expression  “state 
institution”  is  used;  when  a  voluntary  institution  is  referred  to, 
the  expression  “institution  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the 
state”  is  used;  when  state  (including  county  and  city)  and  vol¬ 
untary  institutions  are  meant  some  general  expression,  “suitable 
institution”  or  “some  suitable  institution,”  is  used.  However, 
in  the  latter  part  of  Section  7,  where  “public  institution”  is 
contrasted  with  “private  institution,”  the  latter  can  have  no  other 
meaning  but  that  of  a  voluntary  institution,  while  “public  insti¬ 
tution”  must  be  construed  as  including  state,  county,  and 
municipal  institutions.  Otherwise  the  terms  are  wholly  mean¬ 
ingless.  The  “suitable  institution”  as  found  in  both  Sections  7 
and  10  surely  must  include  both  state  and  voluntary  institutions. 
The  matter  is  not  as  trivial  as  it  at  first  may  appear,  since  upon 
the  construction  of  these  expressions  turns  the  whole  meaning 
of  the  Act,  with  reference  to  state  institutions  for  dependent 
children.  The  bearing  of  our  interpretation  will  be  seen  in  a 
subsequent  discussion  respecting  a  decision  of  the  State  Attorney- 
General. 

That  a  voluntary  institution  is  not  amenable  under  the  law 
to  the  juvenile  court  there  can  be  little  question.  But- the  wis¬ 
dom  of  such  a  provision  is  not  apparent.  In  Allen  county,  a  boy 
who  had  been  an  inmate  of  a  Children’s  Home  at  lola  was  placed 
out,  but  not  adopted,  in  a  family  home.  He  committed  some 
serious  offense  for  which  he  was  turned  over  to  the  juvenile 
court.  The  court  ordered  him  committed  to  the  State  Industrial 
School,  but  the  State  Board  of  Control  held  that  as  he  had  been 
an  inmate  of  a  Children’s  Home  (a  voluntary  institution),  and 
had  never  been  released  from  its  guardianship,  the  juvenile 
court,  under  the  law,  had  no  jurisdiction  over  the  boy.  In  this 
contention  the  Board,  very  properly  it  seems  to  us,  was  sus¬ 
tained  by  the  Attorney-General.  The  decision  no  doubt  is  “good 
law,”  but  we  question  the  wisdom  of  the  law.  It  is  difficult  to 
see  wherein  the  voluntary  institution  is  so  superior  to  the  asso¬ 
ciation.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  it  becomes  very  desirable  at 
times  to  commit  a  really  bad  child  who  is  an  inmate  of  some 
Children’s  Home  to  the  State  Industrial  School.  Under  the 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


65 


Juvenile  Court  Act,  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  has  lost  all 
jurisdiction  over  him;  but  also,  under  the  same  Act,  as  inter¬ 
preted  by  the  Attorney-General,  the  juvenile  court  is  the  only 
court,  except  on  appeal  from  that  court,  that  can  commit.  The 
State  Board  of  Control,  although  it  can  reject  or  delay  a  com¬ 
mitment,  can  not  order  one,  except  of  a  child  in  the  Soldiers’ 
Orphans’  Home.  The  only  remedy  for  such  a  state  of  affairs 
is  to  give  the  juvenile  court  jurisdiction  over  wards  of  voluntary 
institutions  as  well  as  of  associations  and  individuals.  See  Sec¬ 
tion  21  of  the  Proposed  Act. 

c.  Probation  Officers. 

“Section  3.  The  juvenile  court  having  jurisdiction  under 
this  act  shall  appoint  or  designate  one  or  more  discreet  persons 
of  good  character  to  serve  as  probation  officers  during  the  pleas¬ 
ure  of  the  court;  said  probation  officer  shall  receive  as  compen¬ 
sation,  from  the  public  treasury,  a  sum  to  be  fixed  by  the  court, 
said  sum  not  to  exceed  two  dollars  per  day  for  services  actually 
performed;  provided,  that,  in  cities  having  a  population  of  15,000 
or  over,  the  compensation  shall  be  not  more  than  three  dollars 
per  day.  Whenever  there  is  to  be  a  child  brought  before  any 
court  having  a  probation  officer,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  judge 
of  the  court,  if  practicable,  to  notify  the  probation  officer  in 
advance  when  any  child  is  to  be  brought  before  the  court.  It 
shall  be  the  duty  of  said  probation  officer  to  make  such  investi¬ 
gation  as  may  be  required  by  the  court;  to  be  present  in  court  in 
order  to  represent  the  interest  of  the  child  when  the  case  is 
heard;  to  furnish  to  the  court  such  information  and  assistance 
as  the  judge  may  require,  and  to  take  such  charge  of  any  child 
before  and  after  trial  as  may  be  directed  by  the  court;  and 
the  court  shall  have  power  to  make  and  enforce  rules  specifying 
the  duties  of  the  probation  officer  in  any  and  all  cases.  The  judge 
of  said  juvenile  court  may,  at  his  discretion,  designate  as  pro¬ 
bation  officer  the  regular  truant  officer  of  the  county,  who  shall 
perform  the  duties  of  this  office  in  addition  to  the  duties  of  the 
truant  officer,  as  provided  by  law,  and  he  shall  receive  no 
further  remuneration  than  is  provided  by  laws  already  existing. 
Any  probation  officer  may,  without  warrant  or  other  process, 
at  any  time  until  the  final  disposition  of  the  case  of  any  child 
over  whom  said  juvenile  court  shall  have  acquired  jurisdiction, 
take  the  child  placed  in  his  care  by  said  court  and  bring  the 


GO 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KLANSAS. 


child  before  the  court,  or  the  court  may  issue  a  warrant  for  the 
arrest  of  any  such  child;  and  the  court  may  thereupon  proceed 
to  sentence  or  make  such  other  disposition  of  the  case  as  he  may 
deem  best.” 

In  Section  3  provision  is  made  for  the  appointment,  com¬ 
pensation,  and  duties  of  the  probation  officer.  One  or  more 
officers  are  appointed  bj''  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  at  his 
discretion  to  serve  during  his  pleasure.  Two  dollars  a  day  for 
actual  service  is  the  greatest  compensation  that  can  be  paid  in 
most  counties,  but  when  the  population  of  the  county  seat  is 
15,000  or  over,  the  compensation  may  be  three  dollars  a  day. 
Under  the  Compulsory  Education  Law  there  are  truant  officers 
for  the  enforcement  of  this  law.  This  section  of  the  Juvenile 
Court  Act  provides  that  the  judge  may  appoint  the  truant 
officer  for  the  county  as  the  probation  officer  at  the  same  com¬ 
pensation  for  actual  service.  This  is  certainly  an  advantage,  to 
some  extent  financially,  but  more  especially  in  the  quality  of 
service  received  by  having  one  good  officer  at  a  fair  salary, 
rather  than  two  indifferent  ones  each  on  a  smaller  salary.  More¬ 
over,  the  work  is  all  of  nearly  the  same  character  and  there  is 
no  good  reason  why  hair-splitting  should  call  for  a  division  of 
labor  here.  The  wonder  is  that  the  law  does  not  make  it  manda¬ 
tory  upon  the  juvenile  court  to  appoint  one  officer  in  his  county 
who  shall  perform  the  duties  of  probation  officer  and  the  duties 
of  truant  officer  in  both  county  and  cities.  The  experience  of 
counties  and  cities  under  the  Compulsory  Education  Law  proves 
that  there  is  no  need  of  the  number  of  truant  officers  provided 
for  by  that  law.  In  Shawnee  county,  where  more  juvenile  cases 
have  been  handled  than  in  any  other  county,  all  of  the  duties  of 
truant  officer  for  both  county  and  city  have  been  performed 
during  the  past  year  by  the  probation  officer  of  the  juvenile 
court  with  much  more  efficient  results  and  at  a  reduced  cost.  If 
it  is  contended  that  one  officer  may  not  be  able  to  perform  prop¬ 
erly  all  these  duties,  in  such  counties  as  Wyandotte,  the  county 
of  greatest  population,  discretionary  power  may  be  given  to 
appoint  an  assistant  probation  officer  in  counties  having  a  pop¬ 
ulation  exceeding  40,000.  In  these  few  counties  of  greatest 
population  the  appointment  of  chief  probation  officer  should  be 
approved  by  the  State  Board  of  Control,  rendering  it  impossible 
for  the  slightest  suspicion  of  a  political  motive  to  attach  to  such 
an  appointment.  The  tenure  of  office  of  the  probation  officer, 
as  of  the  teacher,  should  depend  absolutely  upon  his  qualifications 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


67 


for  his  office,  and  no  such  officer  should  be  removed  except  for 
cause.  See  Section  6  of  the  Proposed  Act,  for  appointment  of 
probation  officers. 

Many  judges  express  the  opinion  that  the  services  of  the  pro¬ 
bation  officer  are  not  sufficiently  rewarded  to  secure  the  highest 
qualifications.  Two  dollars  for  an  occasional  day’s  work,  out 
of  which  must  come  traveling  expenses,  certainly  cannot  be  any 
great  inducement  to  men  even  of  indifferent  attainments.  It  is 
degrading  the  office  to  the  plane  of  brute  labor.  To  compensate 
on  the  basis  of  fees,  as  some  propose,  is,  as  we  have  already 
pointed  out,  unsatisfactory  in  results.  The  ideal  method  of 
compensation  would  be  to  stipulate  a  fixed  salary.  But  with  the 
time  required  for  the  duties  of  the  office  varying  so  widely 
between  counties,  even  a  gi'aduated  salary  is  almost  imprac¬ 
ticable.  This  much  may  hardly  be  denied :  that  the  occasional 
service  in  a  thinly  populated  county  is  not  worth  less,  as  the 
present  law  would  seem  to  imply,  than  the  same  quality  and 
quantity  of  service  in  a  thickly  populated  county  ;  that  if  there 
is  to  be  any  discrimination,  it  should  favor  the  officer  who  cannot 
depend  for  subsistence  wholly  upon  the  income  of  the  office ;  that 
every  encouragement  should  be  given  the  probation  officer  to 
visit  frequently  all  portions  of  the  county,  to  study  the  conditions 
and  needs  of  the  children,  and  that  one  way  to  do  this  is  to  pay 
the  actual  traveling  expenses  of  the  probation  officer  who  is 
working  on  a  per  diem  wage;  that  the  office  of  probation  officer 
involving,  as  we  have  seen,  duties  of  the  most  far-reaching  and 
consequential  character  should  not  be  belittled  by  insignificant 
remuneration ;  that  any  county  merging  the  duties  of  county  and 
city  truant  officers  and  probation  officer  into  one  office  can  afford 
to  pay  the  decent  wage  of  three  dollars  for  each  day  of  actual 
service;  and  that  the  half  dozen  counties  of  greatest  population 
can,  with  the  office  properly  protected  in  the  matter  of  appoint¬ 
ment  and  tenure  of  position,  afford  to  secure  to  the  probation 
officer  the  stipulated  salary  of  one  thousand  dollars  a  year.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  several  counties  are  paying  almost  this  much 
now,  in  the  limit  of  three  dollars  a  day  for  all  the  working  days, 
or  nine  hundred  and  thirty-nine  dollars  a  year.  But  the  point  is, 
officers  of  such  ability  and  worth  as  those  in  the  Shawnee  and 
Wyandotte  courts,  as  well  as  others,  should  not  be  reduced  to 
the  uncertainty  of  the  wage  system.  The  efficient  officer  is 
worthy  of  his  hire.  See  Section  7  of  the  Proposed  Act,  for  com¬ 
pensation  of  probation  officers. 


68 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


d.  Filing  of  Complaint. 

“Section  4.  Any  reputable  person,  being  a  resident  in  the 
county,  having  knowledge  of  a  child  in  his  county  who  appears 
to  be  either  dependent,  neglected  or  delinquent  within  the  mean¬ 
ing  of  this  act,  may  file  with  the  court  having  jurisdiction  in 
the  matter  a  petition  in  writing  setting  forth  the  facts,  verified 
by  affidavit.  It  shall  be  sufficient  that  the  affidavit  be  upon 
information  and  belief.  If  it  shall  be  determined  by  the  court 
that  there  is  no  ground  for  complaint,  no  permanent  record  shall 
be  made  by  the  court.” 

This  section  prescribes  the  manner  of  getting  a  case  into 
the  juvenile  court,  which  shall  be  by  filing  a  complaint  in  writ¬ 
ing  setting  forth  the  facts,  which  may  be  merely  of  inforihation 
and  belief.  For  this  section,  with  other  provisions,  see  Sections 
16  and  17  of  the  Proposed  Act. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  law  does  not  explicitly  make  the 
court  one  of  record,  although  it  is  assumed  by  some  that  it  is 
such,  presumably  on  the  basis  of  the  latter  part  of  Section  4, 
where  by  implication  it  is  stated  the  court  shall  keep  a  per¬ 
manent  record.  But  the  ground  for  such  an  opinion  seems  to 
be  slight,  as  a  court  may  keep  a  record,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
justice  of  peace  court,  and  still  not  be  technically  a  court  of 
record.  On  the  other  hand,  because  the  court  has  no  seal  would 
hardly,  as  some  believe,  alter  the  character  of  the  court.  Courts 
of  record  are  made  such  by  the  constitution,  or  by  statute,  or  by 
both  constitution  and  statute.  We  have  courts  of  each  kind. 
The  important  matter  for  us  is  that  the  Legislature  may  declare 
a  court  to  be  a  court  of  record,  even  though  it  provides  no  seal, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  supreme  court.  The  constitution  says  that 
each  court  of  record  shall  have  a  seal,  not  that  its  being  a  court 
of  record  shall  be  dependent  upon  the  seal.  While  of  course  this 
is  a  matter  for  the  higher  courts  to  thresh  out,  from  opinions 
already  handed  down,  the  failure  of  a  court  of  record  to  use  a 
seal  does  not  invalidate  the  court  but  the  process  which  the  court 
issues  and  which  is  dependent  for  its  authentication  upon  the 
seal.  Obviously,  if  the  Attorney-General  or  the  higher  courts 
decide  that  the  Legislature  made  the  juvenile  court  a  court  of 
record,  the  latter  should  require  a  seal  of  the  county  commis¬ 
sioners  if  it  would  issue  valid  process.  Nevertheless,  the  law 
should  state  in  unmistakable  terms  whether  or  not  the  court  is 
one  of  record,  and  if  it  makes  it  such,  should  provide  a  seal.  See 
Sections  1  and  4  of  the  Proposed  Act. 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


69 


Whatever  the  character  of  the  court  in  the  foregoing  partic¬ 
ular,  and  however  indefinite  the  provision  for  permanent  records 
may  be,  such  records  may  and  should  be  kept.  Scores  of  cases 
of  dependency  have  come  before  the  several  courts  for  settle¬ 
ment  during  the  past  year  and  over.  Some  of  these  cases  are 
sure  to  come  up  again  in  later  years  when  questions  of  inherit¬ 
ance  are  to  be  settled,  and  if  no  record  has  been  kept  concerning 
age,  name,  parentage,  and  so  forth,  confusion  is  inevitable.  See 
Section  10  of  the  Proposed  Act. 

Closely  akin  to  the  matter  of  records  is  the  one  of  reports 
from  the  court  at  stated  intervals,  for  which  the  law  makes  no 
provision.  Out  of  fifty-three  judges  who  expressed  themselves, 
thirty-five  favor  a  system  of  reports.  For  at  least  three  reasons 
such  reports  should  be  made:  For  the  sake  of  the  public,  includ¬ 
ing  the  child  before  the  court;  as  a  basis  of  further  legislation; 
and  as  an  aid  to  the  student  of  social  science.  Not  only  should 
there  be  records  kept,  open  at  all  times  to  the  public  for  inspec¬ 
tion,  but  they  should  by  careful  compilation  and  publication  be 
put  in  the  way  of  people.  It  has  become  almost  a  maxim  that 
the  less  the  criminal  court  is  flaunted  before  the  public’s  gaze 
the  better,  that  there  should  be  just  enough  publicity  to  insure 
clean  and  honest  decisions.  But  it  is  different  with  the  juvenile 
court.  The  court  is  a  school  where  children  are  educated.  There 
is  little  of  the  really  morbid  about  it,  very  much  that  is  whole¬ 
some  and  true.  Indeed,  the  delinquent  adult  in  the  juvenile  court 
is  the  dark  background  of  an  otherwise  rather  bright  picture. 
The  public  should  be  interested  in  the  court  for  the  sake  of  its 
own  education,  as  it  would  be  in  its  wheat  crop  report,  or  its 
banks,  or  its  universities,  but  even  more  so,  for  the  encourage¬ 
ment  and  help  it  may  be  to  unfortunate  children  by  providing 
for  them  homes,  books,  amusements,  playgrounds,  clubs — in  a 
word,  a  wholesome  life.  It  would  be  well  if  the  report  of  each 
court,  with  all  names  omitted,  could  be  published  in  the  county 
paper  each  year.  The  compilation  of  this  material  is  needed  as 
a  basis  of  all  further  legislation.  New  legislation  can  hardly  be 
expected  always  to  be  sound,  when  the  results  of  the  old  are 
unknown  to  the  legislator,  when  those  in  closest  touch  with  the 
operation  of  the  law  have  no  opportunity  for  making  reconi- 
mendations.  Hence  it  is  that  in  the  Proposed  Act  we  seek  to 
have  reports  incorporated  in  the  report  of  the  State  Board  of 
Control  to  the  governor  and  legislature.  In  cases  where,  for  the 
sake  of  the  child,  a  record  of  its  name  is  not  only  not  needful,  but 


70 


THE  Jm^ENlLE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  IvANSAS. 


not  desirable,  there  should  nevertheless  be  recorded  for  statis¬ 
tical  study  all  other  details.  The  published  compilation  of  the 
records  of  all  the  courts  of  the  states,  names  of  children  omitted, 
should  be  placed  in  libraries  for  easy  access  to  the  student.  The 
writer  by  experience  knows  how  difficult  it  is  in  the  absence  of 
such  reports  to  get  at  the  facts.  Practically  the  whole  of  socio¬ 
logical  endeavor  and  social  advance  today  is  dependent  upon  just 
such  carefully  gathered  and  digested  facts  as  we  are  here  asking 
for.  See  Section  10  of  the  Proposed  Act. 

e.  Issue  of  Summons  and  Hearing. 

“Section  5.  Upon  the  filing  of  the  petition,  unless  the  parties 
shall  voluntarily  appear  or  be  in  court,  a  summons  shall  issue 
in  the  name  of  the  State  of  Kansas,  requiring  the  child  and  the 
person  having  custody  and  control  of  the  child,  or  with  whom 
the  child  may  be,  to  appear  with  the  child  at  the  place  and  at 
the  time  set  in  the  summons,  which  shall  not  be  later  than 
twenty-four  hours  after  service,  unless  otherwise  directed  by  the 
court.  The  parents  of  the  child,  if  living  and  their  residence 
known,  or  its  legal  guardian,  if  one  there  be, .  or  if  there  is 
neither  parent  or  guardian,  or  if  his  or  her  residence  is  unknown, 
then  some  relative,  if  there  be  one,  and  his  or  her  residence  is 
known,  shall  be  notified  of  the  proceedings ;  and  in  any  case  the 
judge  may  appoint  some  suitable  person  or  association  to  act 
in  behalf  of  the  child.  If  the  person  summoned  as  herein  pro¬ 
vided  shall  fail  without  reasonable  cause  to  appear  and  abide  the 
order  of  the  court,  or  to  bring  the  child,  such  person  may  be 
proceeded  against  as  in  case  of  contempt  of  court.  In  case  the 
summons  cannot  be  served,  or  the  party  served  shall  fail  to  obey 
the  same,  or  in  case  when  it  shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the 
court  that  such  summons  will  be  ineffectual,  a  warrant  may  issue 
on  order  of  the  court,  either  against  the  parent  or  guardian,  or 
the  person  having  custody  of  the  child,  or  against  the  child  itself. 
On  the  return  of  the  summons  or  other  process,  or  as  soon  there¬ 
after  as  may  be,  the  court  shall  proceed  to  hear  and  dispose  of  the 
case  in  a  summary  manner  and  enter  final  judgment  therein;  and 
the  costs  of  all  proceedings  under  this  act  may,  in  the  discretion 
of  the  court,  be  adjudged  against  the  person  or  persons  so  sum¬ 
moned,  appearing,  or  arrested,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  collected 
as  provided  by  law  in  civil  cases.” 

Section  5  empowers  the  court  to  compel  the  person  or  persons 
having  a  child  in  charge  for  whom  summons  have  issued  or 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


71 


against  whom  complaint  has  been  filed,  to  produce  it  before  the 
court,  or  in  any  case  empowers  the  court  to  procure  the  presence 
of  the  child  or  its  representative  in  court.  As  in  civil  cases,  the 
costs  may,  in  the  discretion  of  the  court,  be  adjudged  against  the 
person  or  persons  summoned,  appearing,  or  arrested,  as  the  case 
may  be.  The  court  should  also  have  the  authority  to  assess  the 
costs  of  the  case  against  the  parents,  guardian,  or  person  having 
control  of  the  child.  See  Section  17  of  the  Proposed  Act. 

There  should  be  a  section  in  any  Juvenile  Court  Act  safe¬ 
guarding  the  rights  of  the  person,  whether  child  or  adult,  com¬ 
ing  before  the  court.  While  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred 
the  protection  might  not  be  needed,  it  is  the  hundredth  case 
which  should  be  provided  for.  Moreover,  if  the  law  should  be 
passed  upon  by  the  higher  courts,  its  constitutionality  might 
hinge  upon  just  such  a  section.  While  it  should  be  the  rule  of 
the  court  to  give  a  private,  informal  hearing  to  the  case  of  a 
child,  and  usually  to  the  case  of  an  adult,  there  should  be  the 
right  of  a  formal  public  trial  on  demand.  The  right  of  trial  by 
jury  should  never  be  denied,  though  there  should  be  seldom,  per¬ 
haps  in  the  experience  of  most  judges  never,  any  occasion  for 
the  defendant  in  this  court  to  claim  the  right,  particularly  in 
juvenile  cases.  The  right  to  be  represented  by  special  counsel 
should  always  be  granted,  but  in  at  least  children’s  cases  this 
should  never  be  necessary;  the  court  itself  should  be  the  best 
counsel  available  to  the  child,  able  and  eager  to  defend  it  against 
every  injustice  and  to  give  it  the  full  protection  not  only  of  the 
state  but  of  the  parent.  The  law  should  allow  bond  or  other 
security  to  be  given  for  the  appearance  of  the  defendant  at  the 
trial.  There  will  be  rare  need  for  the  exercise  of  such  right  in 
juvenile  cases;  a  speedy  hearing,  a  mere  promise,  and  the  care 
of  the  probation  officer  usually  obviate  the  necessity,  but  the 
right  should  exist.  With  the  adult  delinquency  provision  the  need 
for  the  exercise  of  such  right  may  be  more  frequent.  Under  the 
present  law,  in  Section  12,  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  district 
court  in  certain  cases  is  granted.  This  will  be  discussed  in  its 
proper  place.  For  rights  granted  the  defendant,  see  Section  18 
of  the  Proposed  Act. 

/.  Probation  and  Incarceration. 

“Section  6.  In  any  case  the  court  may  continue  the  hearing 
from  time  to  time,  and  may  in  the  meantime  commit  the  child 


THE  JUVENILE  COUET  SYSTEM  OF  ICANSAS. 


to  the  care  and  control  of  the  probation  officer,  or  may  allow 
such  child  to  remain  in  its  own  home,  or  in  the  custody  of  some 
suitable  person,  subject  to  the  supervision  and  control  of  the 
probation  officer,  and  to  such  other  conditions  as  may  be  imposed 
by  the  court;  or  the  court  may  authorize  the  child  to  be  placed 
in  a  suitable  family  home,  subject  to  the  friendly  supervision  of 
the  probation  officer  and  the  further  order  of  the  court.  Pending 
a  hearing,  no  child  shall  be  committed  to  a  jail  or  police  station, 
except,  in  case  of  felony,  the  judge,  if  he  deems  it  advisable,  may 
commit  said  child  to  jail  until  the  trial  and  final  disposition  of 
the  case;  but  when  other  provision  shall  not  have  been  made 
for  its  care  and  custody,  the  court  shall  direct  it  to  be  kept  in 
some  suitable  place  provided  by  the  county  outside  of  a  jail  or 
police  station.” 

Two  important  provisions  are  made  in  Section  6:  for  pro¬ 
bation  and  for  detention.  Under  the  old  Act  Concerning  Depend¬ 
ent  Children  (G.  S.,  1901,  Sections  4198-4215),  a  system  of 
probation  within  certain  limitations  was  made  possible.  From 
the  setting  of  the  section  (4201)  the  inference  is  a  reasonable 
one  that  probation  was  intended  only  for  dependent  children, 
though  the  juvenile  delinquent  is  given  slight  attention  in  Sec¬ 
tion  4210.  Compensation  by  the  state  was  explicitly  denied 
probation  officers,  setting  thereby  either  a  very  low  or  an  ines¬ 
timable  value  upon  their  services.  Such  services,  it  is  true, 
should  not  be  measured  in  terms  of  dollars  and  cents,  but  when 
pecuniary  support  is  needful  and  possible,  to  withhold  it  is  to 
place  the  lowest  kind  of  estimate  upon  them.  Men  and  women 
will  at  least  appreciate,  if  not  estimate,  genuine  service  partly 
in  such  terms.  Perhaps  more  significant  than  all  else,  probation 
was  not  made  by  this  statute  the  distinctive  feature  of  one  court, 
but  the  common  and  rather  unimportant  possession  of  all. 
Though  the  section  is  superseded  by  the  Juvenile  Court  Act  of 
1905,  it  is  interesting  both  in  the  trend  that  it  pointed  and  in 
its  failure  to  meet  the  situation.  Under  the  present  law  great 
latitude  is  allowed  the  judge  in  the  matter  of  probation,  whether 
probation  shall  be  allowed  at  all,  whether  the  second  time,  the 
conditions  of  probation,  and  the  final  disposition  of  the  case. 
This  is  as  it  should  be,  for  it  is  in  the  exercise  of  almost  unlimited 
authority  in  discretion  and  patience,  but  in  firmness  that  the 
judge  exercises  the  part  of  true  parent.  It  is  in  this  untram¬ 
meled  performance,  too,  of  the  duties  of  probation  officer  that 
come  such  splendid  opportunities  for  putting  into  motion  with 


PKESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


73 


tact  and  skill  the  influences  that  are  as  sure  to  make  sound  men 
and  women  out  of  the  raw  material  of  boy-and-girl  stuff  as  are 
those  influences  known  to  the  expert  grower  of  fine  fruits  or 
flesh  to  produce  the  desired  results.  See  Section  20  of  the  Pro¬ 
posed  Act,  for  the  provision  concerning  probation. 

One  of  the  chief  objects  of  a  juvenile  court  system  is  to  keep 
children  out  of  jails  and  prisons.  It  aims  to  do  this  in  part 
by  placing  them  on  probation ;  when  this  is  impracticable,  it  has 
recourse,  if  the  system  is  properly  organized,  to  temporary 
homes,  detention  homes  and  state  institutions,  but  never  relies 
upon  the  common  jail,  whatever  the  offense,  as  a  place  to  school 
its  boys  and  girls.  As  an  instance  of  this  care,  note  this  provision 
in  Colorado’s  Juvenile  Delinquent  Law  (Section  7)  :  “No  child 
within  the  provisions  of  this  act  under  fourteen  (14)  years  of 
age  shall  under  any  circumstances  be  incarcerated  in  any  com¬ 
mon  jail  or  lock-up,  and  any  officer  or  person  violating  this 
provision  of  this  act  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  on 
conviction  fined  in  any  sum  not  to  exceed  one  hundred  dollars 
($100).  In  counties  of  the  first  class  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  proper  authorities  to  provide  and  maintain  at  public  expense 
a  detention  room,  or  house  of  detention,  separated  or  removed 
from  such  jail  or  lock-up,  to  be  in  charge  of  a  matron  or  other 
person  of  good  moral  character,  wherein  all  children  within  the 
provisions  of  this  act  shall,  when  necessary,  be  incarcerated.” 
As  will  be  observed  from  a  reading  of  the  section  from  which 
this  is  quoted,  incarceration  is  not  prohibited,  but  the  confine¬ 
ment  must  be  in  such  place  as  meets  the  requirements  of  the 
law.  Under  this  act  Denver  has  one  of  the  best  county  detention 
homes  in  the  country.  Whatever  prohibition  of  incarceration  of 
children  in  the  common  jail  there  is  in  the  Kansas  Juvenile  Court 
Act  is  found  in  the  latter  part  of  the  section  we  are  now  con¬ 
sidering.  But  before  turning  to  its  provision  let  us  briefly  review 
the  other  two  or  three  statutes  on  the  subject,  enacted  earlier 
than  this  one : 

A  part  of  Section  3777  (G.  S.,  1901)  reads:  “Juvenile  pris¬ 
oners  shall  be  kept,  if  the  jail  will  admit  of  it,  in  apartments 
separate  from  those  containing  more  experienced  and  hardened 
criminals.” 

On  sight  this  seems  to  be  a  promising  law,  but  scrutiny  shows 
up  its  utter  worthlessness : 

(1.)  The  supreme  court  has  decided  that  this  statute  has 
no  application  to  city  jails:  46  K.  114. 


74 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  IL4NSAS. 


(2.)  The  requirement  extends  to  apartments  only  separate, 
not  removed,  from  the  cells  of  criminals.  You  can’t  keep  crim¬ 
inality  from  percolating  through  cell  walls. 

(3.)  The  provision  is  not  imperative,  but  dependent  upon 
a  condition  that  might  be  alleged  for  any  jail  in  Kansas  at 
times.  .rS.'Tli 

(4.)  No  penalty  is  attached  for  infringement,  and  of  course 
the  law,  like  good  advice,  is  generally  inoperative. 

Section  4210  (G.  S.,  1901)  provides  that  children  under  six¬ 
teen  “charged  with  offenses  against  the  laws  of  this  state,  or 
who  are  brought  before  any  court  of  summary  jurisdiction  for 
examination  under  any  provisions  of  this  act  (An  Act  Concern¬ 
ing  Dependent  Children),  shall  not,  before  trial  or  examination, 
be  confined  in  the  jails,  lock-ups  or  police  cells  used  for  ordinary 
criminals  or  persons  charged  with  crime,”  with  the  further 
requirement  that  municipalities  shall  provide  places  of  detention. 

(1.)  It  is  to  be  noted  that  this  statute  applies  only  to 
children  charged  with  infringing  state  laws  or  awaiting  an  exam¬ 
ination  under  the  Dependency  Act  of  1901.  Children  charged 
with  breaking  a  city  ordinance  might  be  placed  in  any  sort  of 
jail. 

(2.)  The  prohibition  relates  only  to  children  awaiting  trial 
or  examination.  No  kind  of  restriction  is  placed  upon  incarcer¬ 
ation  afterwards. 

(3)  While  the  law  plainly  states  that  municipalities  shall 
provide  places  of  detention,  no  penalty  is  provided  for  its  in¬ 
fraction  and  it  becomes  like  the  preceding  one,  a  mere  cumberer 
of  statute  books. 

(4.)  A  further  weakness  is  discovered  in  the  possibility  of 
the  child  being  arraigned  before  any  court  of  summary  juris¬ 
diction,  with  no  particular  person  or  court  charged  with  its  care 
or  welfare.  Responsibility  divided  is  always  weakened. 

Now  let  us  examine  the  provision  relating  to  incarceration 
of  children  under  the  Juvenile  Court  Act: 

“Pending  a  hearing,  no  child  shall  be  committed  to  a  jail  or 
police  station,  except,  in  case  of  felony,  the  judge,  if  he  deems  it 
advisable,  may  commit  said  child  to  jail  until  the  trial  and  final 
disposition  of  the  case;  but  when  other  provision  shall  not  have 
been  made  for  its  care  and  custody,  the  court  shall  direct  it  to 
be  kept  in  some  suitable  place  provided  by  the  county  outside  of 
a  jail  or  police  station.” 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


75 


The  law  has  two  excellent  features;  There  is  at  least  one 
time — pending  a  hearing,  except  in  case  of  felony — when  a  child 
can’t  be  placed  in  a  common  jail,  and,  second,  the  age-limit  under 
which  the  law  operates  is  as  high  as  sixteen,  two  years  higher 
than  that  of  Colorado.  Otherwise  this  provision  as  compared 
with  that  of  the  Colorado  Act  displays  an  inadequacy  only  too 
apparent. 

Note  the  following: 

(1.)  “Pending  a  hearing,”  like  a  similar  expression  in  the 
law  of  1901,  is  significant  in  its  exclusion  of  two  classes  of 
children :  Those  who  have  been  convicted  and  sentenced  to  pun¬ 
ishment  by  imprisonment  in  a  common  jail,  and  those  who  have 
been  sentenced  to  an  institution  for  delinquents  and  are  awaiting 
the  time  a  crowded  institution  can  receive  them.  It  may  be 
contended  that  the  last  sentence  of  this  provision  will  admit  of 
a  broader  construction,  but  a  careful  reading  will  convince  one 
that  the  child  in  the  last  sentence  is  identical  with  the  one  in 
the  first  who  is  awaiting  trial,  and  when  the  provision  is  read 
in  the  light  of  Section  14,  which  allows  any  sort  of  punishment 
prescribed  for  adults,  such  construction  becomes  untenable. 

(2.)  The  child  charged  with  felony  may  be  committed  to  a 
common  jail.  It  is  true  a  child  may  have  a  criminal  instinct, 
but  as  much  may  be  said  of  many  a  grown  person  who  has  never 
seen  the  inside  of  a  jail.  If  a  child  commits  crime  because  of 
such  instinct,  all  the  more  reason  why  it  should  be  kept  out  of 
the  hot-house  of  crime  where  the  instinct  will  thrive.  Moreover, 
the  child  charged  with  felony  is  quite  as  likely  to  be  innocent  as 
the  child  charged  with  a  minor  offense.  Should  the  former  be, 
pending  a  hearing,  exposed  to  the  dangers  of  the  jail  more  than 
the  latter? 

(3.)  The  law  fails  to  make  it  mandatory  upon  city  or  county 
to  provide  a  place  of  detention.  Clear  water  could  not  be  weaker 
than  is  the  last  clause  in  that  respect. 

(4.)  No  penalty  for  the  infraction  of  the  prohibition  of 
incarceration  is  provided.  As  a  result  the  following  extract  of 
one  judge’s  letter  is  illustrative  of  many  similar  complaints  of 
those  who  are  awake  to  the  situation.  The  letter  comes  from 
one  of  the  largest  cities  of  the  state: 

“The  principal  objection  I  have  to  the  present  law  is  that  we 
lack  a  penalty  for  the  non-observance  of  the  latter  portion  of 
Section  6,  of  the  Act  known  as  the  Juvenile  Court  Act,  where  it 
directs  that  the  county  shall  provide  some  suitable  place  for  the 


76 


THE  jm^ENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  IvANSAS. 


detention  of  persons  outside  of  the  jail  or  police  station.  The 

County  Commissioners  of - have  concluded  that  there  is 

no  penalty  attached  to  the  non-observance  of  this  law,  and 
have  concluded  to  make  no  such  provision.  The  great  difficulty 
is  that  when  complaint  is  made  to  me,  I  can’t  detain  the  children 
other  than  in  their  homes,  and  at  the  time  set  for  the  hearing, 
after  having  served  their  parents  with  notice,  they  fail  to  appear 
and  keep  delaying  the  matter  until  those  who  make  the  complaint 
are  worn  out.  The  law  is  therefore  nullified.” 

The  writer  then  takes  up  another  serious  defect  in  the  law, 
which  is  considered  elsewhere.  We  could  cite  similar  complaints 
from  other  judges.  Whether  or  not  this  particular  judge  has 
exhausted  the  court’s  resources  under  the  law  when  he  allows 
such  dalliance  with  the  court,  is  a  matter  we  may  not  agree  upon, 
but  the  complaints  serve  to  emphasize  the  imperative  need  of 
this  requirement  in  the  law,  that  if  pending  a  hearing  the  child 
cannot  be  imprisoned,  the  county  should  be  compelled  to  provide 
a  suitable  place  of  detention.  But  curiously  enough  it  is  com¬ 
monly  believed  by  many  of  the  juvenile  court  judges  of  the  state 
and  by  most  other  people  that  the  Juvenile  Court  Act  prohibits 
imprisonment,  not  only  pending  a  hearing,  but  after.  This  one 
extract  from  a  judge’s  letter  is  similar  to  many  others  that  we 
might  quote: 

“There  should  be  some  place  to  keep  a  boy  that  has  broken 
his  parole  while  waiting  permission  to  send- him  away.” 

Of  course,  this  emphasizes  again  the  need  of  the  detention 
home,  but  it  discloses  also  the  common  belief  that  the  law  pro¬ 
hibits  imprisonment  of  the  child  after  its  hearing.  Even  Attor¬ 
ney-General  Coleman  on  perhaps  a  cursory  examination  seems  to 
share  in  this  opinion,  when  at  the  close  of  a  decision  rendered 
Honorable  H.  C.  Bowman  of  the  State  Board  of  Control,  June 
30,  1905,  he  says:  “The  juvenile  court,  or  the  judge  thereof, 
it  occurs  to  me,  would  be  the  proper  person  to  make  the  appli¬ 
cation  (for  commitment  to  a  state  institution)  provided  for  by 
Section  22,  Chapter  475.  Meanwhile  he  should  make  'provision 
for  the  temporary  detention  of  the  child  as  provided  for  by  law.” 
The  italics  are  ours.  For  the  sake  of  the  child  it  were  well  if 
this  mistaken  impression  might  continue.  For  the  sake  of  truth 
and  a  right  understanding  of  the  law,  in  all  its  weakness,  it 
should  be  understood  we  have  no  such  prohibition  of  incar¬ 
ceration  as  is  popularly  believed.  This  wrong  impression  on  the 
part  of  officials  indifferent  to  the  purpose  of  the  law,  together 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


77 


with  the  sympathy  on  the  part  of  those  correctly  informed  for 
what  they  believe  the  law  ought  to  provide,  has  pretty  generally 
kept  children  out  of  the  common  jail  at.  all  times,  but  when  the 
first  mentioned  class  awake  to  the  legality  of  commitment  to 
jail  for  punishment  or  for  safe  keeping,  the  results  will  not  be 
so  satisfactory.  If  we  think  otherwise,  then  there  can  be  no 
objection  to  an  amendment. 

There  are  at  least  five  classes  of  children  for  whom  a  county 
detention  home  should  be  available : 

(1.)  Those  awaiting  a  hearing. 

(2.)  Truants  and  school  incorrigibles,  for  whom  at  least  one 
city  in  Kansas  has  already  provided  a  parental  school. 

(3.)  Those  for  whom  punishment  by  a  short  confinement 
is  necessary  to  enforce  the  court’s  order. 

(4.)  Those  awaiting  commitment  to  a  crowded  state  or 
private  institution. 

(5.)  Dependent  children  who  need  a  temporary  home. 

Out  of  fifty-eight  judges  who  answered  the  question,  “Have 
you  found  need  for  a  detention  home  in  your  county?”  twenty- 
seven  answered  affirmatively,  and  the  judges  from  such  cities 
as  Wichita  and  Kansas  City  were  very  emphatic  in  their  answers. 
Indeed,  Kansas  City  makes  no  pretense  to  concealing  the  fact 
that  the  women’s  part  of  the  county  jail  is  used  for  children  fn 
lieu  of  something  better.  It* is  to  be  noted  that  the  question  was 
so  framed  as  to  merely  bring  out  the  county’s  need  of  a  detention 
home.  Of  the  thirty-one  negative  answers,  many  expressed  favor 
for  such  a  home  in  the  more  populous  counties  and  none  opposed 
the  idea. 

The  Juvenile  Court  Act  should  be  revised  so  that  it  would: 

(1.)  Absolutely  prohibit  the  incarceration  of  children  under 
sixteen  in  any  common  jail,  under  heavy  penalty  for  the  infrac¬ 
tion  of  the  provision ;  and 

(2.)  Make  it  obligatory  on  the  proper  authorities  to  make 
available  in  every  county  a  suitable  place  for  the  detention  of 
children. 

See  Article  IV  of  the  Proposed  Act. 

cj.  Disposition  of  Dependent  Children. 

“Section  7.  When  any  child  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years 
shall  be  found  to  be  dependent  or  neglected,  within  the  meaning 
of  this  act,  the  court  may  make  an  order  committing  the  child 


78 


THE  Jm^ENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


to  the  care  of  some  suitable  institution,  or  the  care  of  some 
reputable  citizen  of  good  moral  character,  or  to  the  care  of 
some  training  school  or  an  industrial  school,  as  provided  by  law, 
or  to  the  care  of  some  association  willing  to  receive  it,  embracing 
in  its  object  the  purpose  of  caring  for  or  obtaining  homes  for 
neglected  or  dependent  children.  The  court  may,  when  the  health 
or  condition  of  the  child  shall  require  it,  cause  the  child  to  be 
placed  in  a  public  hospital  or  institution  for  treatment  or  special 
care,  or  in  a  private  hospital  or  institution  which  will  receive  it 
for  like  purpose  without  charge.” 

This  section  is  concerned  with  two  classes  of  dependents: 
dependent  and  neglected  children  and  defective-dependent  chil¬ 
dren.  It  is  not  at  all  clear  that  the  section  deals  with  the  classes 
as  mutually  exclusive;  indeed,-  it  is  quite  conceivable  that  the 
first  sentence  pertains  to  both.  The  court  is  here  vested  with 
authority  to  commit  temporarily  or  permanently  a  child  found 
dependent  or  neglected  to  the  care  of  a  proper  person  or  to  the 
care  of  some  home,  association  or  institution  that  is  both  suit¬ 
able  and  available,  and  when  the  health  or  physical  condition  of 
the  child  demands  it,  to  commit  it  to  the  hospital  or  institution 
giving  the  special  treatment  its  condition  requires. 

This  section  has  been  assailed  on  all  sides,  and  perhaps  to 
some  extent  deservedly.  The  latitude  given  the  court  concern¬ 
ing  commitment  is  quite  properly  wide;  the  language,  however, 
is  not  always  clear,  especially  since  some  of  the  terms  are  not 
defined.  Beginning  with  the  terms  most  easily  disposed  of,  we 
find  the  character  of  the  individual  to  whom  commitment  may  be 
made,  clearly  defined.  Association  is  defined  in  Section  2,  and 
may  be  dismissed  with  the  observation  that  being  a  corporation 
and  necessarily  meaning  something  other  than  the  institution,  it 
probably  refers  to  an  organization  without  real  property  having 
for  its  ultimate  object  the  placing  of  children  in  family  homes, — 
in  other  words,  a  children’s  home-finding  society.  The  industrial 
school  mentioned  may  hardly  refer  to  a  State  Industrial  School, 
since  the  section  pertains  wholly  to  dependents  and  the  State 
School  is  exclusively  for  delinquents.  Hence  the  expression 
“some  training  school  or  an  industrial  school,”  like  a  somewhat 
similar  one  in  Section  2,  which  we  commented  on,  must  be  con¬ 
strued  to  mean  a  voluntary  organization,  and,  as  it  is  followed 
by  the  words,  “as  provided  by  law,”  should  be  included  in  the 
“institution  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  this  state,”  or  vol¬ 
untary  institution.  This  view  agrees  with  a  decision  of  the 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSmERED. 


79 


Attorney-General  rendered  on  the  point  to  the  State  Board  of 
Control,  June  30,  1905. 

In  the  discussion  of  Section  2,  we  observed  that  the  expres¬ 
sion,  “suitable  institution,”  found  in  both  Sections  7  and  9,  has 
in  all  probability  the  meaning  of  state  (including  county  and 
city)  and  voluntary  institutions.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  concern¬ 
ing  the  expression,  as  found  in  Section  9,  this  is  just  what, 
excluding  county  and  city  institutions,  Attorney-General  Cole¬ 
man,  in  his  decision  of  June  30,  1905,  found  it  to  mean.  Con¬ 
cerning  the  sentence  withholding  power  to  commit  to  the  State 
Reformatory,  and  the  sentence  immediately  preceding  that  one, 
he  says: 

“It  seems  to  me  that  this  language  is  sufficient  to  vest  the 
juvenile  court  with  authority  to  commit  children  to  the  reform 
school  and  the  industrial  school.  The  specific  withholding  of 
authority  to  commit  to  the  State  Reformatory  appears  to  me,  by 
the  clearest  implication,  to  point  out  that  it  is  the  meaning  of 
the  statute  that  the  courts  may  commit  to  the  other  two  insti¬ 
tutions.” 

But  elsewhere  in  the  same  decision  he  says: 

“I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  provisions  of  Section  7,  Chap¬ 
ter  190,  of  the  Laws  of  1905  do  not  include  nor  apply  to  the 
Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home.  The  reference  (suitable  institution) 
is  to  other  institutions  organized  under  the  law  for  the  purpose 
of  affording  shelter  to  dependent  and  deglected  children.” 

In  Section  10,  there  is,  to  be  sure,  the  implication  not  found 
in  Section  7,  but  in  the  absence  of  any  definition  of  the  term, 
in  the  absence  of  an  explicit  withholding  or  conferring  of  power 
to  commit  either  dependents  or  delinquents  to  state  institutions, 
and  in  the  light  of  the  only  reasonable  interpretation  a  previous 
examination  of  the  expression  disclosed,  it  is  difficult  to  under¬ 
stand  why  identical  expressions  in  two  sections  should  have 
different  meanings. 

With  reference  to  the  last  sentence  concerning  defective- 
dependents,  for  what  other  purpose  is  the  phrase  “without 
charge”  attached  to  “private  institution,”  except  to  denote  the 
charitable  voluntary  institution  as  opposed  to  the  pay  voluntary 
institution,  and  why  omit  this  phrase  from  “public  institution” 
except  for  the  reason  that  it  is  a  state  institution,  where,  if  both 
exist,  the  charitable  and  pay  are  combined  into  one  institution? 
The  meaning  of  the  'expression  “public  hospital  or  institution”  is 
surely  very  clear  in  its  reference  to  state  institutions  for  defec- 


80 


THE  Jm^ENILE  COUET  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


live  children,  yet  the  Attorney-General  in  the  decision  previously 
quoted  says: 

“It  is  certain  that  the  act  (the  Juvenile  Court  Act)  has 
nothing-  to  do  with  state  institutions  except  as  to  juvenile  offend¬ 
ers  of  whom  the  juvenile  court  has  jurisdiction.” 

These  opinions  are  reducible  to  this :  The  Soldiers’  Orphans’ 
Home,  the  state  institution  for  dependent  children,  is  not,  within 
the  meaning  of  the  act,  a  “suitable  institution”  for  dependent 
children,  while  the  state  industrial  school  is  a  “suitable  insti¬ 
tution”  for  delinquent  children,  and  the  state  institutions  for 
the  blind,  deaf  and  dumb,  feeble-minded,  epileptic,  and  insane 
are  not  public  institutions  as  opposed  to  private  institutions  which 
are  voluntary.  By  this  rendering.  Section  7  ve§ts  the  court  with 
authority  to  commit  a  child  found  dependent  to  an  individual, 
an  association,  or  a  private  institution,  but  not  to  a  state  insti¬ 
tution  for  dependents  or  defective-dependents.  This  power  is 
still  held  by  the  probate  court.  Observe :  The  Juvenile  Court  is 
in  session.  The  probation  officer  brings  in  a  child  which  the  court 
examines  and  finds  to  all  intents  and  purposes  under  the  Juvenile 
Court  Act  dependent.  Believing  it  to  be  advisable  to  commit  it 
to  the  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home,  the  judge  must  by  some  hocus- 
pocus  method  of  “now  it  is  and  now  it  isn’t,”  adjourn  the  juvenile 
court,  and  as  probate  judge  call  a  session  of  probate  court,  com¬ 
mit  the  child,  adjourn  probate  court,  and  call  another  session  of 
juvenile  court  that  as  juvenile  court  judge  he  may  deliver  the 
child  over  to  the  probation  officer  to  await  further  orders  from 
the  probate  court.  No  doubt  the  changes  are  made  with  light¬ 
ning  rapidity  and  quite  informally,  but  the  possibilities  of  such 
a  double  personality  are  almost  startling.  The  juvenile  court 
record  declares  the  child  found  dependent,  the  probate  court 
record  continues  the  story  by  telling  to  what  institution  it  was 
committed.  But  the  superb  logic  of  it!  A  juvenile  court  estab¬ 
lished  by  the  state  ostensibly  to  care  for  dependent  and  neglected 
children,  one  of  the  two  classes  for  which  the  title  of  the  act 
declares  the  court  to  be  created,  and  then  impotent  to  commit 
its  dependent  children  to  the  only  state  institution  established 
solely  for  that  class!  It  is  the  state  enacting  a  law  and  then 
crooking  its  finger  at  it  in  derision — creating  a  court  and  then 
spitting  on  the  creature.  The  decision  of  the  Attorney-General 
might  or  might  not  hold  in  the  higher  courts.  However  that 
may  be,  the  law  should  be  so  framed  that  tffe  court  will  unmis¬ 
takably  have  something  more  than  the  mere  name  of  having 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


81 


“jurisdiction  of  all  cases  concerning  dependent,  neglected  and 
delinquent  children,”  as  provided  by  the  title  of  the  Act.  See 
Section  27  of  the  Proposed  Act,  for  the  disposition  of  a  dependent 
child. 

Before  considering  further  the  defects  or  deficiencies  of  this 
section,  or  suggestions  for  its  revision,  we  should  see  what  law 
we  have  on  the  statute  book  concerning  dependent  children.  No 
claim  is  made  for  exhaustiveness  in  the  list  of  references  given ; 
rather,  the  attempt  is  made  to  give  significant  provisions,  omit¬ 
ting  incidental  matter  and  references.  Laws  relating  to  the 
adoption  and  apprenticing  of  minors  and  the  administration  of 
their  property,  while  they  concern  dependent  children  more  than 
others,  are  very  properly  administered  by  the  probate  court  and 
are  passed  over  here.  Unless  otherwise  stated,  the  section  num¬ 
bers  are  of  the  General  Statutes  of  1901. 

Sections  4193-4197  comprise  an  Act  (S.  L.  of  1889,  Ch.  134) 
“relating  to  the  control  and  management  of  destitute  and  friend¬ 
less  children.”  Authority  is  given  to  legally  established  Chil¬ 
dren’s  Homes  to  receive  and  become  the  legal  custodians  of 
dependent  children,  to  receive  donations  and  to  assume  corporate 
power.  The  second  section  of  the  act  gives  the  right  to  parents 
who  are  unable  to  provide  for  their  children  to  relinquish  them 
to  these  Homes.  Under  this  section,  which  does  not  seem  to  be 
superseded  by  the  Juvenile  Court  Act,  the  parent  is  the  judge  of 
the  child’s  dependency.  The  juvenile  court,  where  all  the  facts 
may  be  impartially  examined  and  where  records  may  be  kept, 
should  be  the  only  competent  judge  of  juvenile  dependency.  In 
no  other  way  can  parental  responsibility  be  made  effectual. 

Sections  4198-4215  comprise  an  Act  (S.  L.  of  1901,  Ch.  106) 
“to  define  conditions  of  child-dependency,  neglect,  and  ill-treat¬ 
ment,  and  to  prescribe  methods  for  the  protection,  disposition 
and  supervision  of  dependent,  neglected  and  ill-treated  children 
within  the  State  of  Kansas.”  The  terms  used  in  this  act  are 
clearly  defined.  The  age-limit  under  which  jurisdiction  obtains 
is  fourteen  years,  if  a  boy,  sixteen  years,  if  a  girl.  Dependency 
is  not  quite  so  comprehensive  in  its  definition  as  one  might  wish, 
but  is  explicitly  stated.  Any  city  court,  justice  of  the  peace,  or 
probate  or  district  judge,  has  jurisdiction  and  any  peace  officer 
may  apprehend.  Provision  is  made  in  this  act  for  probation 
officers,  for  the  care  of  children  by  Children’s  Aid  Societies,  con¬ 
cerning  the  ill-treatment  of  children,  for  county  commissioners 
paying  a  society  or  institution  not  to  exceed  fifty  dollars  for  tak- 


S2 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


ing  a  child  off  their  hands,  and  for  the  care  and  trial  of  juvenile 
offenders.  Societies  and  institutions  receiving  children  must  file 
complete  records  concerning  children  received  and  are  subject 
to  the  same  visitation,  inspection,  and  supervision  of  the  State 
Board  of  Control  as  are  the  state  charitable  institutions.  Legal 
forms  are  provided  in  the  last  section.  In  some  respects,  so  far 
as  dependency  is  concerned,  this  act  is  far  superior  to  the  Juvenile 
Court  Act  and  it  is  still  operative  except  the  parts  relating  to 
age-limit,  the  definition  of  dependency,  the  courts  having  juris¬ 
diction,  probation,  and  in  most  part  juvenile  offenders.  Judges 
of  the  juvenile  court  should  make  a  careful  study  of  it. 

Section  4386  gives  county  commissioners  authority  to  make  a 
certain  annual  allowance  to  indigent  “parents  of  idiots  and  of 
children  otherwise  helpless  requiring  the  attention  of  their 
parents,”  and  this  provision  may  be  made  for  such  persons  out¬ 
side  of  the  poor  house. 

Section  4406  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
of  the  different  townships  and  cities,  and  also  of  the  super¬ 
intendents  of  the  county  asylums,  to  bind  out  children  under 
their  care. 

Sections  4410-4411,  as  amended  by  Chapter  385  of  the  Ses¬ 
sion  Laws  of  1905,  give  the  superintendents  of  county  asylums 
authority  to  educate  children  thereat  or  at  some  adjacent  public 
school,  and  in  the  latter  case  to  allow  a  reasonable  tuition  there¬ 
for. 

Sections  6564-66,  providing  for  a  visiting  agent  in  each 
county  appointed  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  to  find  homes 
for  inmates  of  the  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home,  as  well  as  the  State 
Industrial  Schools,  to  endenture  the  same,  inspect  homes  and 
report  on  the  same,  were  amended  by  Section  6,  Chapter  482,  of 
the  Session  Laws  of  1903,  making  the  superintendents  of  these 
several  institutions  the  visiting  agents. 

Sections  6986-6992  comprise  an  act  concerning  orphan  asy¬ 
lums  in  counties  having  a  population  exceeding  twenty-five  thou¬ 
sand.  The  fatal  defect  in  this  act,  as  in  the  dependency  act  of 
1889,  found  in  Section  6988,  is  in  allowing  the  guardians  or  other 
responsible  person  to  determine  the  dependency  of  a  child  by 
committing  it,  independent  of  the  action  of  any  court,  to  an 
asylum.  Permanent  records  are  here  also  made  unlikely.  This 
section  allows  also  the  probate  court  and  various  other  author¬ 
ities  to  commit  a  child. 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


83 


Sections  6996-7006  comprise  an  Act  (S.  L.,  1885,  Ch.  185) 
providing  for  the  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home  at  Atchison.  Any 
dependent,  abandoned,  neglected  or  ill-treated  children  with 
sound  minds  and  bodies,  between  the  ages  of  two  and  fourteen 
years,  may  be  admitted.  Chapter  481  of  the  Session  Laws  of 
1905  would  probably  be  construed  by  the  courts  as  merely  plac¬ 
ing  all  children  on  an  equal  footing  with  those  of  soldiers  without 
changing  the  meaning  of  the  original  act  farther.  The  object 
of  the  Home  is  to  afford  a  temporary  home  without  charge  until 
such  time  as  a  family  home  may  be  secured  or  the  child  may  be 
returned  to  its  relatives.  Admission  may  be  gained  only  through 
the  probate  court,  certainly  a  point  of  superiority  over  methods 
of  commitment  to  voluntary  organizations  allowed  under  the  law, 
but  as  we  have  previously  pointed  out,  hardly  in  conformity  with 
the  spirit  of  the  Juvenile  Court  Act.  The  authorities  of  the 
Home  have  full  power  to  apprentice  or  adopt  out  a  child,  and  to 
remove  it  for  incorrigibility  or  when  improperly  admitted,  or  to 
return  it  to  its  home  county  when  sixteen  years  old.  Section 
7004  makes  county  superintendents  of  public  insti'uction  the 
visiting  agents  of  the  institution,  but  is  probably  repealed  by 
implication  with  Sections  6564-6566.  Under  the  law  of  1905, 
creating  the  State  Board  of  Control,  this  board,  instead  of  a  board 
of  trustees,  has  control  of  the  Home. 

Defective-dependents  are  thus  provided  for; 

Section  1718  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  assessor  to  take  a  census 
each  year  of  the  blind,  deaf,  dumb  and  idiotic  in  his  township. 

Chapter  384  of  the  Session  Laws  of  1905  makes  compulsory 
the  attendance  of  all  blind,  deaf  and  dumb  children  between  the 
ages  of  seven  and  twenty-one  years  upon  a  suitable  school  where 
such  may  be  taught.  The  truant  officer  is  made  responsible  for 
the  enforcement  of  this  act  and  any  violation  of  the  act  is  made  a 
misdemeanor. 

Sections  6962-6965  provide  for  the  Kansas  Institution  for 
the  Education  of  the  Blind.  Destitute  pupils  may  be  maintained 
and  educated  thereat  and  the  expense  for  clothing  and  traveling 
for  such  pupils  may  be  charged  to  their  respective  counties. 

Sections  6966-6972  relate  to  the  Kansas  Institution  for  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb.  In  addition  to  pupils  boarded  and  cared  for 
at  the  institution  by  the  state,  day  pupils  are  received  and  taught. 

Sections  6973-6985  comprise  an  act  relating  to  the  Kansas 
Asylum  for  Idiots  and  Imbecile  Youth.  Children  under  fifteen, 
having  been  residents  of  the  state  for  six  months,  who  are 


84 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


incapable  of  receiving  instruction  in  the  common  schools  are 
admitted.  Older  children  are  admitted  when  the  capacity  of  the 
institution  allows.  Both  dependent  and  pay  pupils  are  received. 
While  the  institution  is  called  an  asylum,  it  seeks  to  educate  to 
the  limit  of  the  child’s  capacity. 

The  same  provision  is  made  for  dependent  children  who  are 
insane  or  epileptic  as  for  adults.  The  epileptics  are  in  an  insti¬ 
tution  separate  from  the  insane. 

The  provisions  made  for  dependent  children  through  legis¬ 
lation  are  in  Kansas,  as  in  most  other  states,  deplorably  inade¬ 
quate.  The  following  are  some  of  the  principles  and  for  Kansas 
the  provisions  which  we  advocate: 

(1.)  The  juvenile  court  should  have  exclusive  original  juris¬ 
diction  of  all  cases  where  juvenile  dependency  is  charged  or 
concerned  and  should  be  empowered  and  required  to  recommend 
to  the  State  Board  of  Control  such  state  or  voluntary  institution, 
association,  or  individual,  as  the  welfare  of  the  child  seems  to 
demand,  to  which  any  child  found  dependent  may  be  committed. 
The  recommendation  of  commitment  and  records  of  the  case 
should  be  placed  on  file  in  the  juvenile  court  office  and  a  copy  of 
the  same  transmitted  to  the  office  of  the  State  Board  of  Control. 
The  court  should  be  allowed,  however,  to  hold  the  child  on  pro¬ 
bation  in  its  own  or  some  other  home,  for  such  time  as  the  court 
sees  fit. 

(2.)  No  child  should  be  placed  in  the  county  asylum  for 
the  poor.  The  association  with  those  who  are  weak  in  moral 
fiber,  often  vicious,  sometimes  criminally  inclined,  is  invariably 
deteriorating  to  the  child,  and  possibility  of  such  association  in 
the  average  asylum  is  great.  At  present  children  are  both 
reared  and  educated  in  Kansas  county  poor  houses  and  no  poorer 
institutional  life  for  the  child  could  be  chosen  unless  it  would 
be  that  of  the  jail. 

(3.)  There  should  be  available  in  each  county,  as  we  main¬ 
tained  previously,  a  place  of  temporary  detention  for  dependent 
children,  making  hasty  and  unwise  placing  of  children  inex¬ 
cusable. 

(4.)  After  an  examination  of  the  recommendation  for  com¬ 
mitment  and  the  facts  of  the  case,  the  Board  should  commit  the 
child  to  the  home  or  agency  most  practicable  and  desirable,  giv¬ 
ing  preference  ordinarily  to  the  family  home  over  all  else,  to  the 
state  over  the  voluntary  organization,  and  to  the  agency  exclu¬ 
sively  for  home-finding  over  the  voluntary  institution.  If  the 


PEESENT  LAW  CONSIDEEED. 


85 


child  is  committed  by  the  Board  directly  to  a  family  home,  which 
adopts  it,  the  state  institution  should  have  farther  supervision. 

(5.)  There  should  be  state  institutions  to  care  for  all  kinds 
of  juvenile  dependency,  including  cases  not  readily  placed  else¬ 
where  and  cases  of  defective-dependents,  such  as  are  already 
provided  for  the  blind,  deaf,  dumb,  feeble-minded,  epileptics  and 
insane.  A  dependent  child  not  eligible  to  any  state  institution 
for  defectives,  whose  ill-health  requires  special  treatment,  should 
be  placed  temporarily  in  a  family  home  or  hospital,  and  be  deemed 
on  probation  under  the  care  of  the  court. 

(6.)  The  matter  of  expense  is  a  complicated  one.  At  pres¬ 
ent  Kansas  has  a  combination  system  of  support,  the  state,  the 
county,  and  the  private  institution  participating,  the  latter  deriv¬ 
ing  its  funds  by  donation  and  subsidy.  The  best  argument,  as 
well  as  philanthropic  thought,  seems  today  to  favor  the  view  that 
the  financial  burden  of  dependency,  whether  juvenile  or  adult, 
except  that  for  which  expert  treatment  is  provided  in  state  insti¬ 
tutions,  should  be  borne  by  the  county,  but  that  management 
especially  of  juvenile  dependency  should  be  by  the  state.  We 
have  received  letters  from  many  judges,  particularly  from  the 
western  half  of  the  state,  reporting  no  cases  of  juvenile  depend¬ 
ency  during  the  past  year,  and  in  some  instances  saying  that  no 
such  cases  had  been  known  in  the  county  for  years.  It  is  but 
natural  that  such  counties  should  feel  it  an  injustice  to  support 
the  poor  of  another  county  through  state  taxation  and  appro¬ 
priation,  even  though  the  tax  paid  is  less  in  gross  than  in 
eastern  counties.  Frequently  the  dependency  cases  of  a  western 
county  are  so  few  as  to  bear  no  proportion  to  such  cases  of  an 
eastern  county  on  the  basis  either  of  population  or  of  property. 
Dependency  varies  with  the  social  and  industrial  conditions  of 
counties,  but  may  to  some  extent  be  prevented,  and,  of  course, 
no  kind  of  encouragement  should  be  given  it.  If  a  county  sup¬ 
ports  its  own  poor,  it  is  bound  to  be  more  thorough  in  its 
investigation  of  dependency,  the  court  will  be  more  insistent  on 
placing  the  responsibility  for  the  support  of  dependents, 
especially  dependent  children,  where  it  belongs,  and  there  will  be 
greater  incentive  to  discover  and  remove  the  causes  of  depend¬ 
ency. 

(7.)  If  the  county  bears  the  maintenance  expense  of  its 
own  juvenile  dependents,  the  state  and  the  voluntary  institu¬ 
tions  providing  the  plants,  the  State  Board  of  Control  should 
determine  the  amount  to  be  paid  to  these  institutions  for  such 


86 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OP  KANSAS. 


maintenance,  the  amount  to  be  uniform  for  all  having  a  number 
of  inmates  within  certain  limits,  the  amount  diminishing  as  the 
number  of  inmates  increases.  Both  to  get  a  child  as  early  as  pos¬ 
sible  into  family  life,  which  at  its  best  is  always  to  be  preferred  to 
institutional  life,  and  to  encourage  a  small  rather  than  a  large 
institution,  this  amount  should  not  be  large  and  should  diminish 
as  the  number  of  inmates  increases  and  the  cost  of  maintenance 
grows  less.  The  home-finding  society  should  be  paid  by  the 
county  a  bonus  fixed  by  the  Board  for  permanently  placing  a 
child,  and  this  same  bonus  should  be  offered  the  institution  for 
a  like  service.  This  should  be  liberal  enough  to  encourage  the 
association  and  institution  to  home-finding  rather  than  child¬ 
keeping.  The  former  disposition  of  the  child  is  cheaper  for  the 
county  and  it  will  preferably  commit,  or  recommend  the  commit¬ 
ment  of,  a  child  to  the  institution  or  association  that  places  the 
child  in  a  home  at  the  earliest  moment. 

(8.)  The  child’s  traveling  expenses  to  an  institution  at  a 
mileage  rate  fixed  by  the  State  Board  of  Control  should  be  paid 
by  the  county.  When  a  child  is  placed  in  a  home,  its  traveling 
expenses  from  the  institution  or  its  old  home  should  be  paid  by 
the  county  thus  obviating  the  probability  of  an  organization 
placing  a  child  as  near  to  the  institution  or  its  former  home  as 
possible.  It  should  be  noted  that  of  the  twenty-three  voluntary 
institutions  and  associations  in  Kansas  for  the  aid  of  children, 
not  one  is  located  in  the  western  half  of  the  state,  and  the 
twenty-three  are  in  ten  counties.  Of  the  fifty-three  voluntary 
^  charitable  institutions  and  associations  in  the  state  for  both  chil¬ 
dren  and  adults,  including  hospitals  receiving  charity  patients, 
only  one,  the  St.  Rose  Hospital,  is  in  the  western  half  of  the 
state,  and  that  at  Great  Bend,  only  a  few  miles  west  of  the  median 
line.  The  state  institutions  for  dependents  and  defective-depend¬ 
ents  are  all  located  in  the  eastern  third  and  all  but  one  in  the 
eastern  fourth-,  while  the  home  for  dependents  is  on  the  eastern 
border  line.  Consequently,  the  child’s  traveling  expenses  to  the 
institution  will  be  larger  for  western  than  for  eastern  counties. 
In  most  cases  the  dependent  child  of  western  counties  will  be 
placed  at  once  in  the  family  home.  And  since  there  are  no  vol¬ 
untary  institutions  in  these  counties,  this  heavier  traveling 
expense  will  be  somewhat  offset  by  the  lighter  support  asked  of 
them  for  such  institutions. 

(9.)  The  Juvenile  Court  Act  says  nothing  about  the  super¬ 
vision  of  institutions  and  associations  for  the  care  of  dependent 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


•  87 


children.  This  supervision,  however,  under  the  law  of  1901, 
which  requires  the  same  visitation,  inspection,  and  supervision 
for  such  organizations  as  are  given  state  charitable  institutions, 
is  being  provided.  There  should  be,  however,  a  state  inspector, 
appointed  by  and  responsible  to  the  State  Board  of  Control,  who 
would  give  his  time  to  the  inspection  of  voluntary  organizations 
and  county  detention  homes,  and  who  would  at  least  once,  without 
notice,  visit  the  family  where  a  child  is  placed.  The  purpose  of 
this  visitation  would  not  be  in  any  way  to  supplant  that  of  the 
voluntary  organization,  but  merely  to  see  that  the  organization 
is  doing  its  work  properly  and  to  consider  complaints  when  nec¬ 
essary.  Complete  records  of  all  cases  handled  by  state  or  volun¬ 
tary  organizations  should  be  kept  at  the  office  of  the  State  Board 
of  Control.  At  stated  intervals  all  state  and  voluntary  organi¬ 
zations  should  be  required  to  register  at  this  office  such  openings 
for  children  as  they  may  have  in  their  own  institutions  or  in 
family  homes. 

(10.)  If  there  are  to  be  private  institutions  with  counties 
paying  for  the  actual  living  expenses  of  the  inmates,  there  is 
still  the  problem  of  the  institution’s  providing  its  plant,  to  be 
solved  through  the  subsidy  or  donation  or  both.  The  best  state 
system  for  the  care  of  juvenile  dependency  will  make  no  financial 
provision  for  voluntary  organizations;  instead,  there  will  be  a 
state  institution  centrally  located  (in  Kansas  perhaps  a  second, 
placed  in  the  central  portion  of  the  state,  since  the  Soldiers’ 
Orphans’  Home  is  on  the  eastern  border),  which  will  have  ade¬ 
quate  facilities  for  caring  for  all  dependent  children  properly 
committed  to  it  and  providing  suitable  family  homes  for  such  as 
are  eligible  as  rapidly  as  possible.  There  would  be  no  object 
in  retaining  children  at  the  institution  for  a  long  time,  as  is 
the  case  with  some  private  institutions.  With  the  prompt  plac¬ 
ing  of  children  and  the  plant  constructed  on  the  cottage  plan,  the 
argument  that  the  size  of  such  an  institution  would  militate 
against  it  would  lose  its  force.  The  system  would  be  so  simple 
that  it  could  easily  be  perfected  and  would  permit  of  thorough 
state  supervision.  The  maintenance  expense  could  be  appor¬ 
tioned  to  the  counties  according  to  the  number  of  cases,  the 
state  providing  the  plant. 

On  the  principle  that  counties  should  support  their  own  poor, 
no  voluntary  institution  or  association  should  receive  a  subsidy 
from  the  state.  Even  if  wholly  state  support  is  favored,  the 
subsidy  system  is  the  most  uneconomic  one  for  the  state  and 


88 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


unwise  one  for  the  child  there  is.  New  York  has  one  dependent 
child  to  each  200  of  population.  California  has  one  to  each  225. 
In  1874,  Michigan  had  one  to  each  2,224,  and  in  1890  one  to  each 
12,500,  a  decrease  of  juvenile  dependency  of  about  400  per  cent 
in  sixteen  years.  The  first  two  states  are  under  the  subsidy 
system,  the  latter  one  is  under  the  state  system. 

Under  the  present  system  Kansas  is  struggling  along  with 
a  poorly  equipped  state  institution  and  with  many  subsidized 
voluntary  organizations  with  diffused  responsibility  and  dissim¬ 
ilar  management.  The  only  excuse,  the  flimsiest  one  imaginable, 
for  the  state  support  of  a  private  institution,  is  that  the  state 
has  failed  to  perform  a  function  that  it  tacitly  acknowledges 
belongs  to  it  when  it  gives  this  support.  We  can  never  expect  a 
strong  state  charitable  system  while  the  state  continues  to  foster 
the  private  institution.  Today  we  are  in  the  support  of  charit¬ 
able  institutions  where  we  were  a  century  ago  in  the  support  of 
schools.  Does  any  one  advocate  subsidizing  the  private  school 
with  public  rnoney?  Does  any  one  advocate  the  demolition  of 
the  public  school  system?  Those  things  we  concede  to  be  good 
in  our  public  school  system  we  ask  for  our  public  charitable 
system ;  namely,  a  partial  support  by  state  taxation  and  the  chief 
support  by  local  taxation  for  the  state 'system  and  self-support 
for  the  private  institution  with  state  supervision. 

According  to  the  Biennial  Report  of  the  State  Board  of  Con¬ 
trol  for  the  biennium  closing  June  30,  1906,  to  be  issued  soon, 
advance  sheets  of  which  were  furnished  us,  there  are  twenty- 
three  Children’s  Aid  Societies  and  Institutions  in  the  state,  four¬ 
teen  of  which  are  receiving  state  aid.  For  the  two  years  closing 
June  30,  1907,  these  fourteen  organizations  will  have  received 
$10,700.  The  same  organizations  received  the  same  amount  of 
money  for  the  preceding  biennium.  If  the  state  would  invest 
this  subsidy  money  in  a  modernly  equipped  state  plant,  requiring 
counties  to  pay  the  maintenance  expenses  of  their  respective 
inmates  and  prohibiting  them  from  paying  the  private  insti¬ 
tution  for  any  such  expense,  Kansas  would  shortly  have  the  best 
state  system  in  the  country. 

Until  the  state  shall  make  such  ample  provision  for  its  depend¬ 
ent  children,  the  next  best  thing  to  do  is  to  place  this  subsidy 
money  in  our  present  state  institution,  requiring  counties  to  pay 
to  state  or  private  institutions,  as  the  case  may  be,  for  the  sup¬ 
port  of  their  own  dependent  children  and  allowing  voluntary 
organizations  to  receive  donations  for  the  building  and  main- 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


89 


tenance  of  their  plants.  The  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home  should  be 
so  equipped  that  it  might  receive  all  dependent  children  up  to  the 
age  of  sixteen,  not  eligible  to  any  other  state  institution.  As 
Mrs.  Cora  G.  Lewis,  one  of  the  visitors  to  the  state  charitable 
institutions,  points  out  in  her  report  to  the  Board  of  Control,  the 
state  is  in  sad  need  of  a  home  for  cripples.  Nowhere  in  the  state 
are  they  adequately  taken  care  of.  She  recommends  that  a  cot¬ 
tage  annex  be  built  to  the  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home.  This  would 
throw  them  into  contact  with  normal  children,  an  arrangement 
more  wholesome  for  any  defective  class  than  segregation.  A 
kindergarten  should  also  be  provided. 

This  paragraph  taken  from  the  preface  to  “Statistics  of  Every 
State  in  the  United  States  Concerning  Dependent,  Neglected  and 
Delinquent  Children,’’  published  in  1900  by  the  Century  Club 
of  Philadelphia,  is  timely  for  Kansans  to  consider,  and  especially 
should  be  pondered  by  every  legislator:  “Those  states  which 
have  made  most  ample  provision  for  the  care  of  dependent  chil¬ 
dren  are  the  states  which  spend  the  least  and  have  the  fewest 
dependent  children.  Those  states  which  have  made  little  or  no 
provision,  but  leave  the  whole  subject  to  private  charities,  are 
the  states  which  have  the  largest  number  of  dependent  children, 
and  pay  out  the  largest  sums  to  aid  private  institutions  in  the 
care  of  them.  Many  of  these  charitable  institutions,  founded 
with  the  best  intentions,  are  fostering  dependence  and  pauper¬ 
ism.  Institutional  life,  if  long  continued,  unfits  children  for  the 
life  of  home  and  the  world.  The  United  States  leads  the  world 
in  the  opportunity  it  affords  for  a  common  school  education  for 
every  citizen,  but  could  our  public  school  system  have  effected 
what  it  has  and  reached  into  every  little  vil'lage  and  hamlet,  if 
each  state  had  not  provided  for  it  in  its  laws?  Would  unor¬ 
ganized  individual  effort  make  it  comprehensive  and  universal?’’ 

The  principles  and  provisions  found  in  the  above  ten  sub¬ 
divisions,  if  adopted,  should  in  the  main  be  incorporated  in  the 
rules  of  the  Board  of  Control  rather  than  in  law.  See  Sections 
26,  27,  and  28  of  the  Proposed  Act,  for  the  disposition  of  depend¬ 
ent  children,  and  Section  42  for  the  provision  concerning  the 
supervision  of  child-saving  agencies. 

h.  Powers  of  Guardian. 

“Section  8.  In  any  case  where  the  court  shall  award  a  child 
to  the  care  of  any  association  or  individual,  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  child  shall,  unless  otherwise 


90 


THE  JUVENILE  CXIURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


ordered,  become  a  ward,  and  be  subject  to  the  guardianship  of 
the  association  or  individual  to  whose  care  it  is  committed.  Such 
association  or  individual  shall  have  authority  to  place  such  child 
in  a  family  home,  with  or  without  indenture,  and  may  be  made 
party  to  any  proceedings  for  the  legal  adoption  of  the  child,  and 
may  by  its  or  his  attorney  or  agent  appear  in  any  court  where 
such  proceedings  are  pending  and  assent  to  such  adoption;  and 
such  assent  shall  be  sufficient  to  authorize  the  court  to  enter 
proper  order  or  decree  of  adoption.  Such  guardianship  shall  not 
include  the  guardianship  of  any  estate  of  the  child.” 

Section  8  gives  to  an  individual  or  association  to  which  a 
dependent  child  is  committed  by  the  court  the  guardianship  of 
the  child,  and  the  individual  or  association  may  be  made  a  party 
to  any  proceedings  for  its  legal  adoption.  That  the  guardian¬ 
ship  of  the  estate  of  the  child  is  not  included  is  due  to  the 
constitutional  provision  which  confers  that  jurisdiction  upon 
the  probate  court.  No  mention  is  made  of  the  state  or  voluntary 
institution  in  this  section,  the  implication  being  here  and 
throughout  that  such  institution  has  the  same  rights  of  guard¬ 
ianship  as  are  here  granted  to  the  association  or  individual,  but 
is  not  answerable  to  the  juvenile  court.  As  we  pointed  out 
before,  the  juvenile  court  should  have  authority  to  commit  the 
ward  of  a  voluntary  institution  to  a  state  or  other  institution. 

i.  Disposition.  OF  Delinquent  Children. 

“Section  9.  In  case  of  a  delinquent  child,  the  court  may  con¬ 
tinue  the  hearing  from  time  to  time,  and  may  in  the  meantime 
commit  the  child  to  the  care  and  control  of  a  probation  officer 
duly  appointed  by  the  court,  and  may  allow  such  child  to  remain 
in  its  own  home  subject  to  the  visitation  and  control  of  the  pro¬ 
bation  officer;  such  child  to  report  to  the  court  as  often  as  may 
be  required,  and  shall  be  subject  to  be  returned  to  the  court  for 
further  proceedings  whenever  such  action  shall  appear  to  the 
court  to  be  necessary ;  or  the  court  may  authorize  the  child  to  be 
placed  in  a  suitable  family  home,  subject  to  the  friendly  super¬ 
vision  of  the  probation  officer  and  the  further  order  of  the 
court;  or  it  may  authorize  the  child  to  be  boarded  out  in  some 
suitable  family  home,  in  case  provision  is  made  by  voluntary 
contribution  or  otherwise  for  payment  of  the  board  of  such 
child,  until  suitable  provision  may  be  made  for  the  child  in  a 
home  without  such  payment;  or  the  court  may  commit  the ‘child 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


91 


to  a  suitable  institution  for  the  care  of  delinquent  children ;  pro¬ 
vided,  that  no  child  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years  shall  be 
committed  to  the  State  Reformatory,  and  in  no  case  shall  a  child 
be  committed  beyond  his  or  her  minority.  A  child  committed  to 
such  institution  shall  be  subject  to  the  control  of  the  board  of 
managers  thereof,  and  the  board  shall  have  power  to  parole  such 
child  on  such  conditions  as  it  may  prescribe;  and  the  court  shall, 
on  the  recommendation  of  the  board,  have  power  to  discharge 
such  child  from  custody  whenever,  in  the  judgment  of  the  court, 
his  or  her  reformation  is  complete;  or  the  court  may  commit 
the  child  to  the  care  and  custody  of  some  association  that  will 
receive  it,  embracing  in  its  objects  the  care  of  neglected  and 
dependent  children,  if  such  institution  be  duly  credited  as  here¬ 
inafter  provided,  or  to  the  care  and  custody  of  some  discreet 
person.” 

Section  9  prescribes  the  various  methods  of  final  disposition 
of  the  delinquent  child,  such  as  are  common  to  most  juvenile 
codes.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  court  may  require  of  delin¬ 
quent  probationers  such  reports  as  it  may  see  fit,  a  requirement 
that  is  made  an  important  feature  in  Judge  Lindsey’s  court. 
Commitment  may  be  made  by  the  court  to  “any  suitable  insti¬ 
tution”  for  delinquents,  but  may  not  be  to  the  State  Reformatory 
when  the  child  is  under  sixteen,  which  of  course  conforms  both 
to  sense  and  to  other  state  law.  More  important  than  the  mere 
denial  of  power  to  commit  to  the  State  Reformatory  is  Attorney- 
General  Coleman’s  decision  which  we  quoted  in  the  consideration 
of  Section  7,  a  decision  which  grows  out  of  this  clause  and  which 
construes  that  the  “suitable  institution”  for  delinquents  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  preceding  clause  must  include  the  State  Industrial 
Schools.  It  is  worthy  of  note  here  that  according  to  this  decision 
the  court  is  not  dependent  for  its  power  to  commit  on  its  being 
*  a  court  of  record.  Mr.  Coleman  says:  “It  is  true  that  the 
supreme  court  in  the  case  of  in  re  Stokes  held  that  only  courts 
of  record  and  probate  courts  could  commit  to  Industrial  and 
Reform  Schools,  not  because  of  any  lack  of  constitutional  power 
in  justices  of  the  peace,  but  because  the  law  providing  for  the 
sentence  to  the  reform  school  did  not  vest  the  justice  court  with 
power  to  commit.  If  this  act,  in  its  terms,  is  sufficient  to  confer 
upon  the  juvenile  court  authority  to  commit  to  the  reform  and 
industrial  schools,  I  think  the  court  has  that  power  regardless 
of  whether  or  not  it  be  a  court  of  record.  The  difficulty  pointed 
out  in  the  Stokes  case  was  with  the  law,  and  not  with  the  court.” 


92 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


This  section  also  delimits  the  authority  of  the  court  and  of  the 
institution,  which  of  course  under  the  above  decision  must  in¬ 
clude  both  state  and  voluntary,  over  a  committed  child.  The 
control  of  the  child,  power  to  parole  and  to  prescribe  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  parole  are  vested  in  the  managing  board  of  the  institu¬ 
tion,  but  the  discharge  of  the  child,  can  be  concluded  only  by  the 
court  on  the  initiative,  i.  e.,  recommendation  of,  the  board.  It  is 
doubtful  if  this  provision  of  the  law  is  being  observed. 

We  have  noted  the  power  of  commitment  which  the  Juvenile 
Court  Act  delegates  to  this  court.  There  might  be  some  ques¬ 
tion  as  to  what  old  law  concerning  commitment  is  still  in  ope¬ 
ration. 

Sections  7118-7136  relate  to  the  Industrial  School  for  Boys. 
Sections  7122-7123  are  of  particular  interest  to  the  juvenile 
court.  While  Attorney-General  Coleman  in  his  decision  makes 
quite  clear  that  the  Juvenile  Court  Act  withdraws  jurisdiction  of 
the  classes  of  children'mentioned  in  these  sections  from  all  courts 
but  the  juvenile  court,  he  is  not  so  clear  as  to  whether  Section 
7122  is  otherwise  still  operative.  It  reads :  “Whenever  any  boy 
under  the  age  of  sixteen  years  shall  be  convicted  of  any  offense 
known  to  the  laws  of  the  state,  and  punishable  by  imprisonment, 
the  court  or  justice,  as  the  case  may  be,  before  whom  such  con¬ 
viction  shall  be  had,  may  at  its  discretion  sentence  such  boy  to  the 
state  Reform  school,  or  to  such  punishment  as  is  now  provided  by 
law  for  the  same  offense;  and  if  the  sentence  shall  be  to  the 
reform  school,  then  it  shall  be  in  the  alternative  to  the  state 
reform  school,  or  to  such  punishment  as  would  have  been 
awarded  if  this  act  had  not  been  passed.”  The  Juvenile  Court 
Act  nowhere  expressly  repeals  this  section,  and  since  that  Act 
makes  no  restriction  on  punishment  after  trial,  it  would  be  dif¬ 
ficult  to  see  how  the  section  is  repealed  or  modified  except,  of 
course,  as  to  the  court.  If  it  is  true,  then,  that  the  juvenile 
court,  when  it  commits  a  boy  who  has  violated  a  state  law  to  the 
Industrial  School,  must  give  the  alternative  sentence,  by  virtue 
of  Section  7135,  if  such  boy  is  found  to  be  an  improper  subject 
for  such  school,  he  must  be  returned  to  the  court,  which  may 
give  him  the  alternative  sentence  (fine  or  imprisonment).  By 
virtue  of  this  same  section  boys  committed  for  any  other  reason, 
if  found  to  be  improper  subjects,  may  be  returned  to  their  homes. 

Section  7123,  while  still  operative  with  the  exception  of  the 
part  relating  to  the  kind  of  court  having  jurisdiction,  is  prac¬ 
tically  superseded,  since  the  Juvenile  Court  Act  includes  the 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


93 


three  causes  for  commitment  given  in  this  section  as  conditions  of 
delinquency  and  therefore  possible  causes  of  commitment. 

Sections  7132-7134,  relating  to  county  agents  for  the  school, 
are  probably  repealed  by  implication  with  the  repeal  of  Sections 
6564-6566. 

Sections  7137-7156  provide  for  the  Industrial  School  for  Girls 
and  are  much  similar  in  their  provisions  to  those  concerning  the 
Industrial  School  for  Boys. 

We  should  like  to  make  the  following  criticisms  on  Section  9 
of  the  Juvenile  Court  Act: 

(1.)  A  comparison  of  this  section  with  Section  7  discloses 
much  needless  repetition. 

(2.)  Power  to  commit  to  the  State  Industrial  Schools  should 
be  granted  in  definite  language,  and  the  right  should  be  given  to 
the  State  Board  of  Control  to  review  orders  of  commitment  to 
state  institutions  and  to  require  them  to  conform  to  the  rules 
of  the  Board. 

(3.)  A  very  serious  mistake  is  made,  as  it  seems  to  us,  in 
the  following  clause:  “And  in  no  case  shall  a  child  be  com¬ 
mitted  beyond  his  or  her  minority.”  Section  4182  (G.  S.,  1901) 
says:  “The  period  of  minority  extends  in  males  to  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years,  and  in  females  to  that  of  eighteen  years.”  Sec¬ 
tion  7149  (G.  S.,  1901)  says:  “Every  girl  committed  to  the 
Industrial  School  for  Girls  shall  remain  until  she  is  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  unless  sooner  discharged  as  hereinafter  provided, 
or  bound  as  an  apprentice.”  Any  girl  now  above  eighteen  years 
of  age  committed  to  the  State  Industrial  School  for  Girls  under 
the  provisions  of  the  Juvenile  Court  Act  could,  on  the  basis  of 
Section  9  of  this  act,  demand  her  release,  and  the  courts  would 
probably  grant  it  on  the  ground  that  the  part  of  Section  7149 
quoted  above  is  superseded  by  the  Juvenile  Court  Act.  No  one 
need  be  alarmed,  however,  for  the  girls  in  that  school  are,  as  a 
rule,  quite  content  under  the  exceptionally  fine  management  of 
the  superintendent,  Mrs.  Julia  B.  Perry,  to  remain  as  long  as 
they  may.  Nevertheless,  such  a  provision  might  be  quite  an 
inconvenience  on  occasion,  unless  it  really  be  that  our  legislators 
in  their  wisdom  meant  minority  when  they  said  minority;  in 
that  case  all  the  girls  above  the  age  of  eighteen  years  in  the 
Industrial  School  should  be  immediately  discharged. 

(4.)  There  is  some  obscurity  concerning  the  control  of  a 
child  committed  to  any  institution.  As  we  pointed  out  previously, 
the  court’s  consent  to  the  final  discharge  of  a  child  is  necessary 


94 


THE  JWENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  liANSAS. 


according  to  this  section,  though  Section  2  seems  to  withdraw 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  wards  of  an  institution. 

(5.)  The  close  of  the  section  beginning  with  “or  the  court 
may  commit”  is  considerably  tangled.  An  association  for  depend¬ 
ent  and  neglected  children  is  mentioned  as  an  organization  to 
which  the  court  may  commit  a  delinquent  child.  In  the  next 
clause  the  association  is  called  an  institution.  The  condition  is 
made  that  an  institution  “be  duly  credited  as  hereinafter  pro¬ 
vided”  and  no  such  provision  is  made  in  this  or  any  other  section 
of  the  Act. 

See  Sections  22,  23,  and  24  of  the  Proposed  Act,  for  the  dis¬ 
position  of  delinquent  children,  and  Section  42  for  the  provision 
concerning  the  supervision  of  child-saving  agencies. 

y.  Continued  Jurisdiction  of  the  Court. 

“Section  10.  In  any  case  where  a  dependent,  neglected  or 
delinquent  child  has  been  committed  to  the  care  and  custody  of 
any  association  or  individual,  the  court  may  cause  the  child  to 
be  brought  before  it,  together  with  the  person  in  whose  custody 
he  may  be,  and  if  it  shall  appear  that  a  continuance  of  such 
custody  is  not  for  the  best  interests  of  such  child,  the  court  may 
revoke  and  set  aside  the  order  giving  such  custody  and  make 
such  further  orders  in  the  premises  as  to  the  future  disposition 
of  the  child  as  shall  seem  best.” 

Under  this  section  the  court’s  jurisdiction  over  any  dependent 
or  delinquent  child  which  has  been  committed  to  an  association 
or  individual  is  continued,  and  the  court  may  change  its  order 
of  commitment  whenever  the  interests  of  the  child  require  it. 
The  section  does  not  apply  to  the  institution. 

k.  Exclusive  Jurisdiction  of  the  Court. 

“Section  11.  When  a  child  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years 
is  arrested,  with  or  without  a  warrant,  such  child  shall,  instead 
of  being  taken  before  a  justice  of  the  peace  or  police  magistrate 
or  judge  or  any  other  court  now  or  hereafter  having  jurisdiction 
of  the  offense  charged,  be  taken  before  such  juvenile  court;  or  if 
the  child  shall  have  been  taken  before  a  justice  of  the  peace  or 
police  magistrate  or  judge  of  such  court,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
such  justice  of  the  peace  or  police  magistrate  or  judge  of  such 
court  to  transfer  the  case  to  such  juvenile  court,  and  of  the 
officer  having  the  child  in  charge  to  take  such  child  before  said 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


95 


court;  and  in  any  such  case  the  said  court  may  proceed  to  hear 
the  defense  of  the  case  in  the  same  manner  as  if  the  child  had 
been  brought  before  the  court  upon  the  petition  as  herein  pro¬ 
vided.  In  any  case  the  court  shall  require  notice  to  be  given  and 
investigation  to  be  made  as  in  the  several  cases  under  this  act 
provided  for,  and  may  adjourn  the  hearing  from  time  to  time  for 
the  purpose.” 

One  of  the  unique  features  of  the  juvenile  court  movement 
everywhere  is  the  recognition  of  the  importance  of  taking  all 
juvenile  cases  out  of  the  original  jurisdiction  of  all  other  courts 
and  placing  them  in  a  court  whose  distinctive  domain  is  the  care 
of  the  child  abnormal  in  condition  or  environment.  It  removes 
the  child  from  the  evil  influences  of  other  courts  and  tends  by 
specialization  to  develop  expert  officials  in  this  class  of  cases. 
Hence,  provision  is  made  in  this  section  that  the  juvenile  court 
shall  have  original  jurisdiction  of  all  juvenile  cases,  including 
those  in  which  what  would  otherwise  constitute  felony  is 
charged.  Although  Section  2309  (G.  S.,  1901)  expressly  declares 
that  the  district  court  shall  have  exclusive  original  jurisdiction 
in  all  cases  of  felony,  the  Juvenile  Court  Act  withdraws  from 
the  operation  of  that  law  all  juvenile  cases;  besides,  it  is  doubt¬ 
ful,  as  we  shall  see,  whether  a  child  under  sixteen  in  Kansas  can 
be  convicted  of  felon}^  But  of  so-called  capital  cases  the  Colo¬ 
rado  Child  Delinquency  Act  gives  the  criminal  courts  jurisdiction. 
The  Kansas  law  requires  such  cases  to  be  originally  brought  in 
the  juvenile  court  and  only  by  appeal  or  by  the  judge  remanding 
the  case,  may  they  be  taken  to  the  district  court. 

The  first  clause  of  the  section  should  read;  “When  a  child 
is  arrested  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,”  thus  including  not 
only  the  child  under  sixteen,  but  the  minor  over  sixteen,  over 
which  the  court  has  acquired  jurisdiction  as  Section  2  provides. 

See  Sections  9  and  16  of  the  Proposed  Act,  for  provisions 
covering  those  of  Section  11  of  the  present  law. 

1.  Appeal  to  the  District  Court. 

“Section  12.  An  appeal  shall  be  allowed  to  the  district  court 
by  any  child  from  the  final  order  of  commitment  made  by  the 
juvenile  court,  and  may  be  demanded  on  the  part  of  the  child  by 
its  parent,  guardian,  or  custodian,  or  by  any  relation  of  such 
child  within  the  third  degree  of  kinship.  Such  appeal  shall  be 
taken  within  ten  days  after  the  making  of  the  order  complained 


96 


THE  JUVENILE  COUET  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


of,  by  written  notice  of  appeal  filed  with  the  judge  of  the 
juvenile  court;  whereupon  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  judge  of 
said  court,  without  unnecessary  delay,  to  transmit  all  papers, 
together  with  the  transcript  of  his  records  of  the  case,  to  the 
clerk  of  the  district  court  of  his  county,  by  whom  the  case  shall 
be  docketed  in  the  order  of  its  reception.  Such  appeal  shall  not 
suspend  or  vacate  the  order  appealed  from,  but  the  same  shall 
continue  in  force  in  all  respects  the  same  as  if  no  appeal  had 
been  taken  until  final  judgment  has  been  rendered  in  the  district 
court;  provided,  however,  that  the  judge  of  the  district  court 
may,  pending  a  hearing  on  appeal,  make  such  modification  of  the 
order  of  the  juvenile  court,  and  upon  such  conditions,  as  to  him 
may  seem  proper.  Upon  the  final  hearing  on  appeal,  the  case 
shall  be  heard  and  disposed  of  in  the  spirit  of  this  act  and  in  the 
exercise  of  all  the  powers  and  discretion  herein  given  to  the 
juvenile  court.  In  all  cases  of  felony,  the  judge  of  the  juvenile 
court  may  remand  the  person  apprehended  to  the  district  court 
or  county  court  for  trial.” 

While  the  Colorado  law  allows  the  juvenile  court  to  remand 
a  case  to  the  district  court,  ft  does  not  seem  to  provide  for  an 
appeal  to  the  district  court,  except  before  the  case  has  been  tried 
by  the  juvenile  court.  Section  12  of  the  Kansas  law  gives  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  appeal  to  the  district  court  from  the  judge’s  order  of 
commitment.  Pending  the  final  hearing  of  the  case,  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  juvenile  court  must  stand  except  as  modified  by  the 
district  judge.  This  section  is  quite  explicit  in  its  provisions  for 
the  final  disposition  of  juvenile  cases  in  the  district  court,  making 
this  act  mandatory  on  the  district  judge  and  creating  a  juvenile 
court  for  the  time  being  out  of  the  district  court. 

The  right  of  appeal  should  be  allowed  from  any  kind  of  judg¬ 
ment  the  court  may  bring  in.  Besides  the  order  of  commitment 
a  fine  is  possible  under  this  act,  the  opinion  of  some  judges  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding.  In  juvenile  cases  especially,  a  variety 
of  orders  other  than  commitment  and  fine  is  possible. 

Though  it  is  not  mandatory  on  the  juvenile  court  judge  to 
remand  a  case  to  the  district  court,  the  last  sentence  of  this  sec¬ 
tion  implies  that  a  felony  in  a  child  is  possible.  But  Section  2300 
(G.  S.,  1901)  makes  the  punishment  of  a  child  under  sixteen 
convicted  of  so-called  felony  the  punishment  for  misdemeanor. 
Moreover,  the  language  of  the  sentence  is  inconsistent  with  Sec¬ 
tion  15  of  this  Act,  a  part  of  which  reads :  “And  in  no  case  shall 
any  proceedings,  order,  or  judgment  of  the  juvenile  court,  in 


PRESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


97 


cases  coming  under  the  purview  of  this  act,  be  deemed  or  held 
to  import  a  criminal  act  on  the  part  of  any  child.”  It  is  difficult, 
then,  to  see  how  a  child  could  be  remanded  to  the  district  court  for 
felony.  For  the  provisions  concerning  appeal,  see  Section  18  of 
the  Proposed  Act. 

m.  Duties  of  City  and  County  Officers. 

“Section  13.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  county  attorneys 
within  their  respective  counties,  and  city  attorneys  within  their 
respective  cities,  to  give  to  the  probation  officers  such  aid  in  the 
performance  of  their  duties  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  duties 
of  the  office  of  such  attorneys.  It  shall  be  the  duties  of  the  police 
officers  and  constables  making  arrests  of  children  under  sixteen 
years  of  age  in  the  counties  herein  mentioned  to  at  once  give 
information  of  that  fact  to  the  probation  officer  or  to  the  judge  of 
the  juvenile  court  herein  provided,  and  also  to  furnish  such 
probation  officer  or  judge  with  all  the  facts  in  his  possession 
pertaining  to  said  child,  its  parents,  guardian,  or  other  person 
likely  to  be  interested  in  such  child,  and  also  the  nature  of  the 
charge  upon  which  such  charge  has  been  made.  Any  probation 
officer  may,  without  warrant  or  other  process,  at  any  time  until 
final  disposition  of  the  case  of  any  child  over  whom  said  juvenile 
court  shall  have  acquired  jurisdiction,  take  any  child  placed  in 
his  care  by  said  court  and  bring  such  child  before  the  court,  or 
the  court  may  issue  a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  any  such  child; 
and  the  court  may  thereupon  proceed  to  sentence  or  make  other 
disposition  of  the  case.” 

Section  13  makes  it  the  duty  of  county  and  city  attorneys, 
constables,  and  police  officers  to  aid  probation  officers  in  the 
discharge  of  their  duties.  It  should  be  made  the  duty  of  county 
attorneys  to  aid  not  only  probation  officers,  but  the  judge,  and 
to  conduct  cases  in  the  court  when  required  by  the  judge.  The 
expression,  “counties  herein  mentioned,”  is  not  accurate.  The 
part  of  that  sentence  beginning  with  “police  officers”  should  read, 
“police  officers  in  their  respective  cities,  and  constables  in  their 
respective  counties.”  The  last  part  of  this  section,  beginning 
with  “any  probation  officer,”  is  a  wholesale  repetition  almost  var- 
batim  of  the  close  of  Section  3.  The  necessity  for  the  reiteration 
is  not  apparent. 

See  Section  14  of  the  Proposed  Act,  for  the  provisions  cover¬ 
ing  the  ground  of  Section  13  of  the  present  law. 


98 


THE  JUVEJNILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


n.  Punishment  of  Delinquent  Children. 

“Section  14.  All  punishments  and  penalties  imposed  by  law 
upon  persons  for  the  commission  of  offenses  against  the  laws  of 
the  state,  or  imposed  by  city  ordinances  for  the  violation  of  such 
ordinances,  in  the  case  of  delinquent  children  under  the  age  of 
sixteen  years,  shall  rest  in  the  discretioi.  of  the  judge  of  the 
juvenile  court,  and  execution  of  any  sentence  may  be  suspended 
or  remitted  by  said  court.” 

The  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  is  given  the  power  in  this 
section  to  impose  any  penalty  for  an  offense  that  the  law  or  city 
ordinance  allows.  As  we  have  seen,  the  law  (Section  2300,  G. 
S.,  1901)  forbids  children  being  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary, 
and  Section  9  of  this  act  to  the  State  Reformatory.  But  it  leaves 
possible  not  only  commitment  tp  the  Industrial  Schools,  impo¬ 
sition  of  fines,  incarceration  in  a  detention  home,  and  other 
restraining  orders,  but  incarceration  in  the  county  jail  or  city 
prison,  the  very  thing  the  juvenile  court  movement  is  pledged  to 
prevent.  It  will  thus  be  seen,  as  was  pointed  out  in  the  consider¬ 
ation  of  Section  6,  we  have  very  little  of  actual  prohibition  of 
jail  incarceration.  The  section  is  directly  contrary  in  spirit  and 
in  letter  to  the  last  part  of  Section  15,  and  makes  a  dark  picture 
relieved  only  by  one  glimmer  of  light,  the  judge’s  power  to  remit 
or  suspend  the  execution  of  any  sentence,  and  even  this  power  is 
not  granted  the  court  for  children  over  sixteen  who  are  still  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  court;  otherwise  the  phrase,  “in  the  case 
of  delinquent  children  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years,”  has  no 
meaning.  Surely  there  are  modes  of  punishment  in  plenty  for 
the  child  without  using  the  jail.  With  the  “detention  home” 
provision,  the  fine  should  be  retained.  As  matters  now  stand, 
where  the  judge  observes  the  spirit  rather  than  the  letter  of 
the  law  and  refuses  to  place  a  child  in  jail,  the  parent  may  dally 
as  much  as  he  pleases  and  make  the  fine  an  ineffective  method  of 
punishment.  With  detention  as  an  alternative,  however,  the  fine 
may  become,  in  some  cases,  one  of  the  means  of  holding  parents 
responsible  for  the  delinquency  of  their  children. 

See  Section  22  of  the  Proposed  Act,  for  the  provision  con¬ 
cerning  penalties  for  juvenile  delinquents. 

0.  Liberal  Construction  of  Act  Enjoined. 

“Section  15.  This  act  shall  be  liberally  construed,  to  the 
end  that  its  purposes  may  be  carried  out,  to  wit,  that  the  care. 


PKESENT  LAW  CONSIDERED. 


09 


custody  and  discipline  of  a  child  shall  approximate,  as  nearly  as 
may  be  proper,  parental  care;  and  in  all  cases  where  the  same 
can  be  properly  done,  that  a  child  may  be  placed  in  an  approved 
family  home,  by  legal  adoption  or  otherwise.  And  in  no  case 
shall  any  proceedings,  order  or  judgment  of  the  juvenile »court, 
in  cases  coming  within  the  purview  of  this  act,  be  deemed  or 
held  to  import  a  criminal  act  on  the  part  of  any  child;  but  all 
proceedings,  orders  and  judgments  shall  be  deemed  to  have  been 
taken  and  done  in  the  exercise  of  the  parental  power  of  the 
state.” 

Section  15  expresses  the  purpose  of  the  act  to  give  the  child, 
as  near  as  may  be,  parental  care.  To  this  end  the  act  is  to  be 
construed  liberally,  and  the  proceedings  to  be  usually  informal. 
Above  all,  the  court  is  not  to  be  a  criminal  court,  and  no  action 
of  the  court  is  to  be  construed  as  implying  crime  on  the  part 
of  the  child.  In  accordance  with  this  section  only  such  pun¬ 
ishments  should  be  employed  as  are  suited  to  the  child’s  stage 
of  development  and  constructive  of  the  child’s  character.  It 
should  be  understood  and  might  well  be  stated  in  this  section 
that  no  evidence  produced  in  any  proceedings  of  the  court  should 
ever  be  used  against  the  child  in  any  other  court,  except  in  the 
same  case  upon  appeal. 

See  Sections  22  and  44  of  the  Proposed  Act  covering  the 
above  provisions. 

p.  General  Provisions. 

“Section  16.  All  acts  or  parts  of  acts  in  conflict  with  this 
act  or  inconsistent  herewith,  are  hereby  repealed.” 

“Section  17.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from 
and  after  its  publication  in  the  official  state  paper.” 

These  sections  present  the  usual  closing  of  an  enactment. 
Section  16  would  be  improved  if  as  many  as  possible  of  the 
sections  repealed  were  definitely  stated. 

See  Sections  45  and  46  of  the  Proposed  Act,  for  the  above 
provisions. 

Some  of  the  more  significant  new  features  of  the  Proposed 
Act,  in  addition  to  those  already  referred  to,  may  be  mentioned 
as  follows: 

(1.)  Provision  in  case  of  absence  of  the  judge  or  his  inabil¬ 
ity  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  court.  (Section  2.) 


100 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  ICANSAS. 


(2.)  Clerk  of  the  court  provided.  (Section  8.) 

(3.)  Disputed  age  of  a  child  before  the  court  determined. 
(Section  19.) 

(4.)  Court’s  recommendation  for  commitment  rather  than 
actual  commitment  of  a  child,  and  the  records  and  disposition 
of  the  case.  (Sections  21,  22,  23,  and  27.) 

(5.)  Penalties  prescribed  for  officer’s  failure  to  carry  out 
the  provisions  of  the  act.  (Section  43.) 


CHAPTER  II. 


PROPOSED  LAW  PRESENTED. 

Article  I.  Juvenile  Court. 

AN  ACT  to  establish  a  juvenile  court  and  to  provide  for  the 
disposition  of  all  cases  of  juvenile  delinquency  and  depend¬ 
ency  and  cases  contributing  thereto  and  of  all  cases  arising 
under  the  laws  for  the  protection  of  children;  said  act  to 
repeal  Chapter  190  of  the  Session  Laws  of  1905,  entitled,  “An 
Act  to  establish  a  juvenile  court  and  provide  for  the  care  of 
dependent,  neglected  and  delinquent  children,”  and  Sections 
2300,  4194,  4199,  4200,  4201,  4208,  4210,  4211,  4213,  4214,- 
4406,  7122,  7123,  7124,  7125,  7136,  7146,  7147,  7148,  and 
7156  of  the  General  Statutes  of  Kansas  of  1901,  Section  4, 
Chapter  423  of  the  Session  Laws  of  1903,  and  Chapter  385 
of  the  Session  Laws  of  1905,  and  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts 
in  conflict  herewith. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Kansas: 

Section  1.  That  there  be  and  hereby  is  created  and  estab¬ 
lished  in  each  county  of  the  state  a  court  to  be  known  as  the 
juvenile  court,  which  shall  be  a  court  of  record,  and  which  shall 
have  in  its  county  exclusive  original  jurisdiction  of  all  cases  of 
juvenile  delinquency  and  dependency  and  cases  contributing 
thereto,  and  of  all  cases  arising  under  the  laws  for  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  children.  In  all  such  cases  said  court  shall  have  civil 
and  criminal  jurisdiction. 

Section  2.  The  probate  judge  of  each  county  shall  be  the 
judge  of  the  juvenile  court  in  his  county.  In  case  of  his  absence 
from  the  city  or  inability  to  perform  the  duties  of  said  court,  and 
in  case  of  the  non-appointment  of  a  probate  judge  pro  teni  under 
statute  provisions,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  chairman  of  the 
board  of  county  commissioners  to  designate  as  judge  during  such 
absence  or  disability  and  the  non-appointment  of  a  probate  judge 
pro  tern,  a  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  township  or  judge  of  the 
police  court  of  the  city,  who  shall  act  as  judge  and  hear  such 
cases  as  may  come  before  him  in  the  office  of  the  judge  of  the 
juvenile  court. 


102 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


Section  3.  The  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  shall  receive  as 
compensation  for  his  services,  the  same  fees  as  are  allowed  the 
probate  judge  for  like  services,  and  said  fees  shall  be  in  addition 
to  all  fees  or  salary  received  by  him  as  judge  of  the  probate 
court;  said  fees  are  to  be  allowed  by  the  county  commissioners, 
and  paid  out  of  the  county  treasury. 

Section  4.  Each  juvenile  court  shall  have  a  seal,  with  which 
all  process  issuing  therefrom  shall  be  authenticated ;  which  seal 
shall  be  provided  by  the  county  commissioners,  and  shall  contain 

the  words,  “Juvenile  Court, - County,  Kansas,”  inserting 

the  name  of  the  county  for  which  such  seal  is  provided. 

Section  5.  The  juvenile  court  shall  be  open  at  the  office  of 
the  juvenile  judge  every  day,  except  Sunday,  to  hear  and  deter¬ 
mine  any  and  all  cases  cognizable  before  said  court. 

Section  6.  The  juvenile  court  shall  appoint  or  designate  one 
discreet  person  of  good  moral  character  to  serve  as  probation 
officer,  who  shall  also  perform,  in  the  county  and  all  cities  and 
towns  in  the  county,  the  duties  of  truant  officer  prescribed  in 
the  Compulsory  Education  Law  (S.  L.  of  1903,  Ch.  423).  In 
counties  having  a  population  of  over  40,000,  according  to  the 
latest  census,  whether  federal  or  state,  the  probation  officer  shall 
be  known  as  chief  probation  officer.  In  such  counties  the  court 
may  appoint  or  designate  one  assistant  probation  officer.  In  cases 
coming  under  the  Compulsory  Education  Law  (S.  L.  of  1903, 
Ch.  423),  the  county  superintendent  of  public  instruction  and  the 
city  superintendent  of  schools  shall  in  their  respective  districts 
act  in  an  advisory  relation  to  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  and 
the  probation  officer,  cooperating  with  said  officers  and  bringing 
to  their  notice  all  reported  cases  of  truancy.  In  counties  having 
a  population  of  over  40,000,  according  to  the  latest  census, 
whether  federal  or  state,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  juvenile  court 
to  submit  the  appointment  of  chief  probation  officer  to  the  State 
Board  of  Control  for  approval,  and  such  appointee  shall  not 
be  qualified  to  act  as  probation  officer  until  the  said  appointee 
has  been  approved  by  the  said  Board  as  a  qualified  and  proper 
person  to  discharge  the  duties  of  such  office;  and  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  said  Board  to  require  each  judge  in  such  counties  to 
expeditiously  make  such  appointment  and  the  duty  of  said  Board 
to  approve  or  disapprove  of  such  appointee  within  fifteen  (15) 
days  after  submission  thereof  by  the  juvenile  court,  and  a  fail¬ 
ure  to  act  thereon  in  such  time  shall  constitute  an  approval  of 
such  appointment.  Every  probation  officer  appointed  in  the 


PROPOSED  LAW  PRESENTED. 


103 


manner  prescribed  by  this  act  may  hold  his  office  until  removed 
by  the  juvenile  court,  but  removal  shall  be  for  cause  only.  Inef¬ 
ficiency  or  failure  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  instructions 
of  the  court  shall  constitute  cause  for  removal,  but  in  any  case 
a  probation  officer  may  appeal  from  the  court’s  action  of  removal 
to  the  State  Board  of  Control,  and  the  decision  of  the  said  Board 
shall  be  final. 

Section  7.  Each  chief  probation  officer  provided  for  in  this 
act  who  is  appointed  by  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  and 
approved  by  the  State  Board  of  Control  as  provided  for  in  Sec¬ 
tion  6  of  this  act,  sjiall  receive  from  the  county  treasury  and  be 
paid  in  the  same  manner  as  other  employees  of  the  county  are 
paid,  a  salary  of  one  thousand  (1,000)  dollars  per  year,  to  be 
paid  in  equal  monthly  installments.  Each  other  probation  officer 
provided  for  in  this  act  in  counties  having  a  population  of  over 
15,000,  according  to  the  latest  census,  whether  federal  or  state, 
shall  receive  from  the  county  treasury  and  be  paid  in  the  same 
manner  as  other  employees  of  the  county  are  paid,  a  salary  of 
seven  hundred  (700)  dollars  per  year,  to  be  paid  in  equal  monthly 
installments.  Each  probation  officer  provided  for  in  this  act 
in  counties  having  a  population  of  less  than  15,000,  according 
to  the  latest  census,  whether  federal  or  state,  shall  receive  from 
the  county  treasury  and  be  paid  in  monthly  installments  in  the 
same  manner  as  other  employees  of  the  county  are  paid,  three 
(3)  dollars  for  each  day  of  actual  service,  and  expenses  actually 
and  legitimately  incurred  therein;  provided,  that  no  warrant 
shall  be  issued  on  the  county  treasury  for  such  service  until 
such  probation  officer  shall  have  filed  an  itemized  statement  of 
the  time  employed  in  such  service  and  of  the  expenses  incurred 
therein,  and  such  statement  shall  have  been  certified  to  by  the 
judge  of  the  juvenile  court. 

Section  8.  If  at  any  future  time  there  shall  be  provided 
by  law  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  probate  court,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  such  clerk  at  such  compensation  as  the  law  may  allow,  to 
perform  the  duties  of  clerk  of  the  juvenile  court,  as  said  court 
or  the  law  shall  direct. 

Section  9.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  court,  clerk,  or  other 
person  to  tax  or  collect,  or  for  any  county  to  pay,  any  fees  what¬ 
ever  now  permitted  by  law  to  be  taxed  and  collected  for  the 
benefit  of  any  court,  officer,  or  person,  for  the  case  of  any  per¬ 
son  coming  within  the  provisions  of  this  act,  unless  such  person 
shall  be  proceeded  against  in  the  juvenile  court  under  the  pro- 


104 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


visions  and  in  accordance  with  the  purpose  of  this  act,  except  in 
cases  remanded  or  appealed  to  the  district  court  as  provided  for 
in  this  act,  or  where  complaint  has  been  filed  before  a  justice 
of  the  peace  or  police  magistrate  who  shall  duly  comply  with 
the  terms  of  Section  15  of  this  act. 

Section  10.  As  soon  as  this  act  shall  take 'effect  and  be  in 
force,  the  State  Board  of  Control  shall  at  state  expense  have 
prepared  and  furnished  each  juvenile  court  of  the  state  a  uniform 
series  of  blanks  for  complaints,  commitments,  reports,  and  so 
forth,  and  a  special  record  book  in  proper  form,  to  be  known  as 
“The  Juvenile  Court  Record.”  Thereafter,  whenever  necessary, 
the  said  blanks  and  book  shall  be  furnished  by  the  State  Board 
of  Control  on  requisition  of  the  court.  The  juvenile  court  rec¬ 
ord  shall  be  kept  as  a  permanent  record  of  all  juvenile  and  adult 
cases  coming  before  the  court,  the  reports  of  probation  officers, 
teachers,  physicians,  and  employers  respecting  juvenile  cases, 
an  itemized  statement  of  the  expenses  of  the  court,  and  such 
other  matters  as  may  be  required  by  the  State  Board  of  Control. 
Between  the  first  and  the  fifteenth  days  of  July  of  each  year, 
each  court  shall  submit  to  the  State  Board  of  Control,  upon 
blanks  furnished  by  said  Board  and  based  in  makeup  on  the 
“Juvenile  Court  Record,”  a  report  showing  for  the  fiscal  year 
closing  June  30,  an  itemized  statement  of  the  expenses  of  the 
court,  the  number,  character,  and  disposition  of  all  the  cases 
brought  before  the  court,  and  such  other  information  regarding 
such  cases,  and  the  parentage  of  such  children  brought  before 
it,  as  shall  be  required  in  the  Juvenile  Court  Record.  It  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  State  Board  of  Control  to  compile  the  informa¬ 
tion  reported,  for  publication  in  its  annual  report  to  the  Gov¬ 
ernor,  and  biennial  report  to  the  legislature;  provided,  that  the 
name  or  identity  of  any  person  brought  before  any  court  shall 
not  be  disclosed  in  any  published  report.  It  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  said  Board  to  send  a  copy  each  of  such  published  reports 
to  each  judge  of  the  juvenile  courts  of  the  state.  It  shall  further 
be  the  duty  of  said  Board,  as  soon  as  this  act  shall  take  effect 
and  be  in  force,  to  have  prepared  and  furnished  each  juvenile 
court  of  the  state  at  state  expense  a  manual  containing  this  act, 
and  such  other  laws  of  the  state  as  involve  the  delinquency, 
dependency,  and  protection  of  children  and  their  commitment  to 
state  institutions,  the  rules  of  the  various  boards  respecting  the 
commitment  of  minors  to  state  institutions,  information  con¬ 
cerning  the  associations  and  institutions  to  which  commitment 


PROPOSED  LAW  PRESENTED. 


105 


may  be  made,  and  such  forms  and  reports  as  are  used  by  the 
court,  with  directions  for  their  use. 

Article  II.  General  Procedure. 

Section  11.  For  the  purposes  of  this  act,  the  word  “associa¬ 
tion”  shall  mean  any  organization  duly  incorporated  according 
to  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Kansas,  having  among  its  objects  the 
protection  of  children  from  cruelty  and  the  care  and  control  of 
dependent  or  delinquent  children,  with  the  end  in  view  of  finding 
suitable  homes  and  placing  them  therein.  The  word  “"institu¬ 
tion,”  other  than  st^te  institution,  shall  mean  an  organization 
which  is  similar  to  an  association  and  which  may  include  in  its 
objects  all  those  of  the  association,  but  which  also  through  a 
board  of  managers  owns  or  leases  a  building  or  buildings,  which 
it  uses  as  a  home  or  place  of  detention,  discipline  or  education 
for  dependent  or  delinquent  children.  The  word  “parent”  or 
“parents”  shall  mean  one  or  both  parents,  as  is  consistent  with 
the  intent  of  this  act.  The  word  “child”  or  “children”  shall 
include  one  child  or  more  than  one,  as  is  consistent  with  the 
intent  of  this  act,  and  shall,  unless  specifically  stated  otherwise, 
include  any  child  in  the  state  not  a  ward  of  any  state  institution, 
who  is  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  or  having  once  come  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  juvenile  court  by  the  provisions  of  this  act 
has  not  attained  its  majority.  The  words  “delinquent  child” 
shall  include  any  child  who  violates  any  law  of  this  state,  includ¬ 
ing  what  is  known  as  the  Compulsory  Education  Law,  or  the  ordi¬ 
nance  of  any  city,  town,  or  village ;  or  who  is  incorrigible ;  or  who 
knowingly  associates  with  thieves,  vicious  or  immoral  persons; 
or  who  is  growing  up  in  idleness  or  crime;  or  who  knowingly 
visits  or  enters  a  house  of  ill-repute ;  or  who  knowlingly  patron¬ 
izes  or  visits  any  policy  shop  or  place  where  any  gambling  device 
is,  or  shall  be  operated;  or  who  patronizes  or  visits  any  saloon 
or  other  place  where  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold;  or  who  pat¬ 
ronizes  or  visits  any  public  pool  room  or  bucket  shop ;  or  who 
wanders  about  the  streets  in  the  night  time  without  being  on 
any  lawful  business  or  occupation;  or  who  habitually  wanders 
about  any  railroad  yard  or  tracks,  or  jumps  or  hooks  on  to  any 
moving  train,  or  enters  any  car  or  engine  without  lawful  author¬ 
ity;  or  who  habitually  uses  vile,  obscene,  vulgar,  profane,  or  in¬ 
decent  language,  or  is  guilty  of  immoral  conduct  in  any  public 
place  or  about  any  school  house.  Any  child  committing  any  of 
the  acts  herein  mentioned  shall  be  deemed  a  juvenile  delinquent 


106 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OP  ICANSAS. 


person,  and  shall  be  proceeded  against  as  such  as  hereinafter 
provided.  The  words  “dependent  child”  shall  mean  any  child 
who  is  dependent  upon  the  public  for  support,  or  who  is  destitute, 
homeless,  or  abandoned ;  or  who  has  not  proper  parental  care  or 
guardianship ;  or  who  habitually  begs  or  receives  alms ;  or  who 
is  found  living  in  any  house  of  ill-fame,  or  with  any  vicious  or 
disreputable  persons ;  or  whose  home  by  reason  of  neglect,  cruelty 
or  depravity  on  the  part  of  its  parents,  guardian,  or  other  per¬ 
son  in  whose  care  it  may  be,  is  an  unfit  place  for  such  child ;  or 
whose  environment  is  such  as  to  warrant  the  state,  in  the  interest 
of  the  child,  in  assuming  its  guardianship.  Any  child  whose- 
parents  or  guardian  permits  it  to  use  or  become  addicted  to  the 
use  of  tobacco,  or  spirituous  or  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  bever¬ 
age,  and  not  for  medicinal  purposes,  or  whose  parent  or  guardian 
rears,  keeps,  or  permits  it  in  or  about  any  saloon,  or  place  where 
spirituous  or  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold,  or  any  gambling  house, 
or  place  where  gambling  is  practiced  or  carried  on,  or  any  house 
of  ill-fame  or  ill-repute,  shall  be  deemed  to  be  without  proper 
parental  care  or  guardianship.  Any  child  under  the  age  of  ten 
(10)  years  who  is  found  begging,  peddling,  or  selling  any  article, 
or  singing,  or  playing  any  musical  instrument  upon  the  street,  or 
who  accompanies  or  is  used  in  aid  of  any  person  so  doing,  shall 
be  considered  a  dependent  child. 

Section  12.  The  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  shall  have  au¬ 
thority  to  issue  subpoenas  for  witnesses  and  compel  their  attend¬ 
ance  by  attachment  as  for  contempt,  and  to  issue  all  other  pro¬ 
cess  that  may  be  necessary  in  any  case,  the  same  as  justices  of 
the  peace  are  authorized  to  do  in  misdemeanors. 

Section  13.  Probation  officers  are  hereby  vested  with  all 
power  and  authority  of  sheriffs  to  make  arrests,  and  of  county 
attorneys  to  file  complaints  or  informations,  and  to  prosecute  and 
conduct  proceedings  against  all  persons  coming  under  the  pro¬ 
visions  of  this  act.  All  writs  and  process  of  the  court  shall  be 
served  by  such  officers,  or,  in  case  of  their  absence  or  non-ap¬ 
pointment,  by  some  person  especially  deputized  for  that  purpose 
by  the  court.  Whenever  there  is  a  child  to  be  brought  before 
a  juvenile  court,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  judge  of  the  court, 
if  practicable,  to  notify  the  probation  ofpcer  in  advance  when 
such  child  is  to  be  brought  before  the  court ;  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  said  probation  officer  to  make  such  investigation  as  may  be 
required  by  the  court;  to  be  present  in  court  when  the  case  is 
tried  to  represent  the  interests  of  the  child;  to  furnish  to  the 


PROPOSED  LAW  PRESENTED. 


107 


court  such  information  and  assistance  as  the  judge  may  require; 
and  to  take  such  charge  of  any  child  before  and  after  trial  as  may 
be  directed  by  the  court.  A  probation  officer  may,  without  war¬ 
rant  or  other  process,  at  any  time  until  the  final  disposition  of 
the  case  of  any  child  over  whom  said  juvenile  court  shall  have 
acquired  jurisdiction,  take  the  child  placed  in  his  care  by  said 
court  and  bring  the  child  before  the  court,  or  the  court  may  issue 
a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  any  such  child;  and  the  court  may  ' 
thereupon  proceed  to  sentence  or  make  such  other  disposition  of 
the  case  as  he  may  deem  best.  In  all  adult  cases  coming  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  this  court  the  probation  officer  is  hereby  vested 
with  the  same  authority  as  in  juvenile  cases,  subject  to  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  the  court. 

Section  14.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  county  attorneys 
within  their  respective  counties,  and  city  attorneys  within  their 
respective  cities,  to  give  to  the  probation  officers  and  judges  of 
the  juvenile  courts  such  aid  in  the  performance  of  their  duties 
as  may  be  consistent  with  the  duties  of  the  office  of  such  at¬ 
torneys.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  any  county  attorney,  when  re¬ 
quested  so  to  do  by  the  juvenile  court  of  his  county,  in  which 
a  complaint  or  information  is  filed,  to  appear  with  or  for  the 
probation  officer,  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  any  hearing  or 
trial  of  any  case,  and  when  so  requested  he  shall  represent,  pros¬ 
ecute  and  conduct  such  case  in  the  same  manner  and  with  like 
power  and  effect  as  though  the  complaint  or  information  was 
originally  filed  by  the  county  attorney ;  provided,  that  when  such 
county  attorney  shall  so  appear,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  charge 
and  receive  from  the  county  the  same  fees  which  he  would  have 
been  entitled  by  law  to  receive  in  case  such  complaint  or  informa¬ 
tion  had  been  originally  filed  by  him.  Nothing  in  this  act  shall 
be  construed  as  prohibiting  county  attorneys  from  filing  com¬ 
plaints  or  informations  in  any  case  of  adult  delinquency  -coming 
within  the  provisions  of  this  act;  provided,  that  in  case  where 
such  complaint  or  information  has  been  first  filed  by  the  pro¬ 
bation  officer  no  other  complaint  or  information  shall  be  filed 
until  the  one  so  filed  by  such  probation  officer  has  been  first 
heard  or  disposed  of  by  the  juvenile  court. 

Section  15.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  any  officer  of  the  law, 
other  than  the  probation  officer,  arresting  or  detaining  a  child 
for  any  cause  under  the  provisions  of  this  or  any  other  act  to 
at  once  bring  such  child  before  the  juvenile  court,  or,  if  at  night, 
or  the  court  be  not  in  session,  to  place  it  in  charge  of  the  proba- 


108 


THE  Jm^ENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  ICANSAS. 


tion  officer  or  judge  of  the  court,  and  such  child  shall  be  cared 
for  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  act.  It  shall  also 
be  the  duty  of  the  officer  arresting  or  detaining  such  child  to 
furnish  said  probation  officer  or  judge  with  all  the  facts  in  his 
possession  pertaining  to  said  child,  its  parents,  guardian,  or 
other  person  likely  to  be  interested  in  such  child,  and  also  the 
nature  of  the  charge  against  the  child  or  the  cause  of  its  deten¬ 
sion.  Or  if  the  child  shall  have  been  taken  before  a  justice  of 
the  peace  or  police  magistrate,  or  judge  of  any  court,  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  such  justice  of  the  peace  or  police  magistrate,  or 
judge  of  such  court,  to  transfer  the  case  to  such  juvenile  court, 
and  of  the  officer  having  the  child  in  charge  to  take  such  child 
before  said  court,  and  in  any  such  case  the  said  court  may  pro¬ 
ceed  to  hear  the  defense  of  the  case,  in  the  same  manner  as  if  the 
child  had  been  brought  before  the  court  upon  the  petition  as 
herein  provided.  In  any  case  the  court  shall  require  notice  to 
be  given  and  investigation  to  be  made  as  in  any  case  provided  for 
under  this  act,  and  may  adjourn  the  hearing  from  time  to  time 
for  the  purpose. 

Section  16.  Any  officer  of  any  society,  association,  or  insti¬ 
tution  having  for  its  object  the  care  and  protection  of  children, 
or  any  resident  of  the  county,  having  knowledge  of  a  child  in 
his  county  who  appears  to  be  dependent  or  delinquent  within  the 
meaning  of  this  act,  may  file  with  the  juvenile  court  a  petition 
in  writing  setting  forth  the  facts,  verified  by  affidavit.  It  shall 
be  sufficient  that  the  affidavit  be  upon  information  and  belief. 
The  court  may,  on  its  own  motion,  or  on  the  application  of  any 
person  interested,  require  that  such  petitioner  set  forth  any 
additional  information  as  to  the  parents  or  relatives  of  such 
child,  or  the  causes  of  its  dependency  or  delinquency;  provided, 
however,  that  when  any  such  child  within  the  provisions  of  this 
act  is  in  immediate  or  apparent  danger  of  violence,  or  is  about 
to  be  removed  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  for  the  purpose 
of  evading  proceedings  upon  this  act  for  its  protection,  the 
officer  of  any  association  or  institution  for  the  care  or  protec¬ 
tion  of  children,  any  sheriff,  or  any  probation  or  police  officer, 
may  take  immediate  custody  of  such  child  without  any  process 
whatever ;  but  in  any  such  case  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  officer 
within  forty-eight  (48)  hours  thereafter  to  file  a  petition  and 
proceed  as  herein  provided  for. 

Section  17.  Upon  the  filing  of  the  petition,  unless  the  parties 
shall  voluntarily  appear  or  be  in  court,  a  summons  shall  issue. 


PROPOSElb  LAW  PRESENTED. 


109 


in  the  name  of  the  State  of  Kansas,  requiring  the  child  and  the 
person  having  custody  and  control  of  the  child,  or  with  whom 
the  child  may  be,  to  appear  with  the  child  at  the  place  and  at 
the  time  set  in  the  summons,  which  shall  not  be  later  than  twen¬ 
ty-four  (24)  hours  after  service,  unless  otherwise  directed  by 
the  court.  The  parents  of  the  child,  if  living  and  their  residence 
known,  or  its  legal  guardian,  if  one  there  be,  or  if  there  is 
neither  parent  nor  guardian,  or  if  his  or  her  residence  is  un¬ 
known,  then  some  relative,  if  there  be  one,  and  his  or  her  resi¬ 
dence  is  known,  shall  be  notified,  of  the  proceedings,  and  in  any 
case  the  judge  may  appoint  some  suitable  person  or  association 
to  act  in  behalf  of  the  child.  If  the  person  summoned,  as  herein 
provided,  shall  fail  without  reasonable  cause  to  appear  and  abide 
the  order  of  the  court,  or  to  bring  the  child,  such  person  may  be 
proceeded  against  as  in  case  of  contempt  of  court.  In  case  the 
summons  cannot  be  served,  or  the  party  served  shall  fail  to 
obey  the  same,  or  in  case  it  shall  be  made  to  appear  to 
the  court  that  such  summons  will  be  ineffectual,  a  warrant  may 
issue  on  order  of  the  court,  either  against  the  parent  or  guardian, 
or  the  person  having  custody  of  the  child,  or  against  the  child 
itself.  On  the  return  of  the  summons  or  other  process,  or  as 
soon  thereafter  as  may  be,  the  court  shall  proceed  to  hear  and 
dispose  of  the  case  in  a  summary  manner,  and  enter  final  judg¬ 
ment  therein ;  and  the  costs  of  all  proceedings  under  this  act 
may,  in  the  discretion  of  the  court,  be  adjudged  against  the  per¬ 
son  or  persons  so  summoned,  appearing,  or  arrested,  as  the  case 
may  be,  or  against  the  parent  or  guardian  or  person  having  con¬ 
trol  of  the  child,  and  shall  be  collected,  as  is  provided  by  law 
in  civil  cases. 

Section  18.  Any  case  coming  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  whether  before  the  juvenile  or  district  court,  shall  be  con¬ 
ducted  informally  and  by  private  examination  and  trial,  to  which 
only  the  parties  to  the  case,  including  the  relatives  or  friends  of, 
or  those  properly  interested  in,  the  parties,  shall  be  admitted, 
unless  the  defendant,  or  if  in  a  juvenile  case,  one  of  the  parents, 
the  guardian,  or  other  legal  representative  of  the  defendant,  de¬ 
mands  a  public  trial,  when  all  proceedings  shall  be  in  the  usual 
form.  In  all  trials  under  this  act  any  person  interested  therein 
shall  have  the  right  to  demand  a  trial  by  jury,  or  the  judge  on 
his  own  motion  may  order  a  jury.  Unless  such  jury  is  demanded, 
it  shall  be  deemed  to  be  waived.  Any  person  interested  in  any 
case  under  this  act  shall  have  the  right  to  appear  therein  and  to 


110 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  I^ANSAS. 


be  represented  by  counsel,  and  the  court  may,  in  such  case,  ap¬ 
point  counsel  to  appear  and  defend  on  behalf  of  any  such  per¬ 
son.  Any  person  interested  in  any  case  under  this  act  shall  have 
the  right  now  given  by  law  to  give  bond  or  other  security  for 
his  appearance  at  the  trial  of  such  case.  An  appeal  shall  be 
allowed  to  the  district  court  from  the  final  order  or  judgment 
made  by  the  juvenile  court  against  any  party,  and  may  be  de¬ 
manded  on  the  part  of  the  child  by  its  parent,  guardian  or 
custodian,  or  by  any  relative  of  such  child  within  the  third 
degree  of  kinship.  Such  appeal  shall  be  taken  within  ten  days 
after  the  making  of  the  order  complained  of,  by  written  notice 
of  appeal  filed  with  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court,  whereupon 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  judge  of  said  court,  without  unneces¬ 
sary  delay,  to  transmit  all  papers  together  with  a  transcript  of 
his  records  of  the  case  to  the  clerk  of  the  district  court  of  his 
county  by  whom  the  case  shall  be  docketed  in  the  order  of  its 
reception.  Such  appeal  shall  not  suspend  or  vacate  the  order 
appealed  from,  but  the  same  shall  continue  in  force,  in  all  re¬ 
spects  the  same  as  if  no  appeal  had  been  taken,  until  final  judg¬ 
ment  has  been  rendered  in  the  district  court;  provided,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  judge  of  the  district  court  may,  pending  a  hearing 
on  appeal,  make  such  modification  of  the  order  of  the  juvenile 
court  as  to  him  may  seem  proper.  Upon  the  final  hearing  on 
appeal,  the  case  shall  be  disposed  of  in  accordance  with  the  pro¬ 
visions  and  spirit  of  this  act  and  in  the  exercise  of  all  the  powers 
and  discretion  herein  given  to  the  juvenile  court. 

Section  19.  If  the  age  of  any  child  in  any  way  concerned 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act  is  brought  into  question  in  court, 
the  court  shall  be  the  final  judge  as  to  whether  it  has  jurisdic¬ 
tion  of  the  case;  provided,  that  such  judgment  may  be  made  the 
ground  for  appeal  to  the  district  court. 

Section  20.  In  any  case  not  appealed,  the  court  may  con¬ 
tinue  the  hearing  from  time  to  time,  and  may  in  the  meantime 
commit  the  person,  if  a  child,  to  the  care  and  control  of  the  pro¬ 
bation  officer,  or  of  some  other  suitable  person,  or  to  the  County 
Detention  Home,  if  there  be  one;  or  the  court  may  allow  the 
child  to  remain  in  its  own  home,  if  it  has  one,  or  commit  to  some 
family  home  elsewhere  or  to  some  home  for  compensation,  as 
provided  in  Section  41,  subject  in  any  such  case,  as  the  court  may 
direct,  to  the  friendly  supervision  and  visitation  of  the  proba¬ 
tion  officer,  to  any  system  of  reporting  to  the  probation  officer 
or  the  court  on  the  part  of  the  child  or  its  custodian,  and  to  any 


PROPOSED  LAW  PRESENTED. 


Ill 


other  conditions  imposed  by  the  court.  In  such  cases  of  commit¬ 
ment  the  child  shall  be  deemed  on  probation  under  the  care  of 
the  court  and  right  of  guardianship  or  right  to  become  a  party 
to  proceedings  for  the  legal  adoption  of  the  child  shall  not  be 
granted  to  the  one  receiving  the  child.  Any  child  not  eligible 
to  any  state  institution  for  defectives,  whose  ill-health  requires 
special  treatment,  shall  be  placed  temporarily  in  a  family  home 
or  hospital,  and  be  deemed  on  probation  under  the  care  of  the 
court. 

Section  21.  When  the  court  on  final  hearing  of  any  case 
shall  recommend  to  the  State  Board  of  Control  the  commitment 
of  any  child,  the  court  shall  enter  such  findings  by  proper  order 
to  that  effect,  and  shall  transmit  to  said  Board  a  certified  copy 
of  the  order  made  in  the  case,  which  shall  be  entered  in  the 
Juvenile  Court  Record,  and  which  shall  include  besides  the  said 
findings,  the  state  or  voluntary  institution,  association,  or  in¬ 
dividual  to  whom  commitment  is  recommended,  and  a  statement 
of  the  facts  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  giving  the  name,  age, 
nationality,  and  residence  of  the  child,  the  whole  number  of  chil¬ 
dren  in  the  family,  name,  age,  and  residence  of  parents,  or  of 
either  of  them,  also  maiden  name  of  the  mother,  when  and 
where  the  parents  were  married,  the  time  and  place  of  child’s 
birth ;  also,  whether  either  or  both  parents  are  living,  and  if  so, 
where;  also,  whether  or  not  the  parents  are  divorced,  and  if  so, 
when  and  where,  and  who  was  given  the  custody  of  the  child; 
and  whether  either  or  both  parents  abandoned  the  child ;  and  in 
case  of  examination  by  the  court  of  two  or  more  children  of  the 
same  family  at  the  same  time,  a  separate  copy  of  each  finding 
shall  be  given  for  each  child.  Blanks  for  the  findings  in  the 
case  and  recommendation  for  commitment  shall  be  furnished  the 
courts  by  the  State  Board  of  Control.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  said  Board  of  Control,  after  an  examination  of  the  court’s 
findings  in  the  case  and  recommendation  of  commitment,  to  com¬ 
mit  the  child  to  such  state  or  voluntary  institution,  association, 
'or  individual,  as  is  most  practicable  and  most  desirable  for  the 
welfare  of  the  child,  transmitting  to  the  same  a  copy  of  the 
court’s  findings  in  the  case,  or  to  return  the  child  to  the  court 
for  further  probation.  Notice  shall  be  given  the  court  by  the 
said  Board  of  its  disposition  of  the  child.  A  child  committed  by 
the  State  Board  of  Control  shall  become  a  ward  and  be  subject 
to  the  guardianship  of  the  individual,  association,  or  state  or 
voluntary  institution  to  whose  care  it  is  committed,  but  such 


112 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


guardianship  shall  not  include  that  of  any  estate  of  the  child. 
Such  individual,  association,  or  institution  shall  have  authority 
to  place  such  child  in  a  suitable  family  home,  with  or  without 
indenture,  and  may  by  attorney  or  agent  appear  in  any  court 
where  adoption  proceedings  are  pending  and  assent  to  its  adop¬ 
tion.  Such  assent  shall  be  sufficient  to  authorize  said  court  to 
enter  the  proper  order  or  decree  of  adoption.  A  child  com¬ 
mitted  to  a  voluntary  institution,  association,  or  individual,  or 
adopted  out  or  discharged  by  a  state  institution,  shall  be  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  juvenile  court  of  the  county  in  which  it 
may  be,  but  shall  not  be  deemed  on  probation  except  by  new 
action  in  the  regular  way.  The  case  of  such  a  child  may  be 
investigated  at  any  time  by  the  juvenile  court  of  the  county  in 
which  said  child  is,  on  the  court’s  own  motion  or  by  order  of  the 
State  Board  of  Control,  and  the  court  may  recommend  to  the 
Board  other  disposition  of  the  child. 

Article  III.  Special  Procedure. 
a.  Juvenile  Delinquency. 

Section  22.  All  punishments  and  penalties  imposed  by  law 
upon  persons  for  the  commission  of  offenses  against  the  laws  of 
the  state,  or  imposed  by  city  ordinances  for  the  violation  of  such 
ordinances,  shall  in  the  juvenile  court  rest  in  the  discretion  of 
the  judge,  and  execution  of  any  sentence  may  be  suspended  or 
remitted  by  said  court;  provided,  that  any  incarceration  of  chil¬ 
dren  under  sixteen  (16)  years  of  age  shall  be  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  this  act;  and,  provided  farther,  that  any  dis¬ 
position  of  a  child  for  delinquency  under  this  act,  or  any  evi¬ 
dence  given  in  such  case,  shall  not  in  any  civil,  criminal,  or  other 
case,  or  proceedings  whatever  in  any  court,  be  lawful  or  proper 
evidence  against  such  child  for  any  purpose  whatever,  except¬ 
ing  in  subsequent  cases  against  the  same  child  under  this  act; 
and,  provided  farther,  that  nothing  herein  shall  affect  the  pro¬ 
visions  of  this  act  that  the  juvenile  court’s  power  to  commit 
a  child  shall  in  certain  cases  extend  only  to  a  recommendation 
to  the  State  Board  of  Control  of  such  commitment. 

Section  23.  When  any  child  shall  be  found  to  be  a  delinquent 
child  as  defined  in  Section  11  of  this  act,  and  the  court  deems 
probation  in  the  child’s  own  home  or  some  other  home  imprac¬ 
ticable,  the  court  may  recommend  to  the  State  Board  of  Control 
the  commitment  of  the  child,  if  a  girl  under  sixteen  (16)  years 


PROPOSED  LAW  PRESENTED. 


113 


of  age,  to  the  State  Industrial  School  for  girls,  if  a  boy  under 
sixteen  (16)  years  of  age,  to  the  State  Industrial  School  for 
Boys,  or  if  the  delinquent  child  is  a  boy  over  sixteen  (16)  years 
of  age,  the  court  may  commit  such  child  to  the  State  Reform¬ 
atory  conformably  to  the  rules  thereof ;  or  the  court  may  recom¬ 
mend  to  the  State  Board  of  Control  the  commitment  of  the  child 
to  any  other  state  institution  for  juvenile  delinquents  which  may 
be  provided ;  or  the  court  may  recommend  the  commitment  of  the 
child,  imposing  such  conditions  as  the  court  deems  best,  to  the 
care  and  custody  of  some  institution  or  association  that  will  re¬ 
ceive  it  which  conforms  to  the  definitipn  of  such  organization  as 
found  in  Section  11  of  this  act  and  which  has  been  duly  accred¬ 
ited,  as  provided  in  Section  42  of  this  act ;  provided,  that  no  child 
under  the  age  of  sixteen  (16)  years  shall  be  committed  to  the 
State  Reformatory,  and  that  in  no  case  except  to  the  State  Re¬ 
formatory  and  to  the  State  Industrial  School  for  Girls,  shall  a 
child  be  committed  beyond  its  minority.  No  commitment  of  a 
delinquent  child  to  a  state  or  voluntary  institution,  association,  or 
individual  (except  to  such  individual  on  probation)  shall  be  made, 
except  by  recommendation  of  the  juvenile  court  or  district  court 
on  appeal,  to  the  State  Board  of  Control,  unless  the  child  is  a  ward 
of  a  state  institution,  and  such  commitment  shall  not  be  made 
except  such  recommendation  shall  be  approved  by  said  Board. 

Section  24.  In  any  case  where  the  delinquency  charged 
against  a  child  would  otherwise  constitute  a  felony,  the  judge  of 
the  juvenile  court  may  remand  the  child  to  the  district  court 
for  trial ;  whereupon  the  case  shall  be  heard  as  early  as  may  be 
and  disposed  of  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  act 
and  in  the  exercise  of  all  the  powers  and  discretion  herein  given 
to  the  juvenile  court;  provided,  that  in  no  case  shall  a  child  be 
incarcerated  in  violation  of  Section  35  of  this  Act. 

h.  Adult  Delinquency  Contributing  to  Juvenile  Delinquency. 

Section  25.  In  all  cases  where  any  child  shall  be  a  delinquent 
child,  as  defined  by  this  act,  the  parent  or  parents,  legal  guard¬ 
ian,  or  person  having  the  custody  of  such  child,  or  any  other  per¬ 
son  responsible  for,  or  by  any  act  encouraging,  causing,  or  con¬ 
tributing  to  the  delinquency  of  such  child,  shall  be  guilty 
of  a  misdemeanor,  and  upon  trial  and  conviction  thereof, 
shall  pay  the  costs  of  all  proceedings  and  be  punished  by 
a  fine  in  a  sum  not  exceeding  one  thousand  (1,000)  dollars, 
or  by  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  for  a  period  not  ex- 


114 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


ceeding  one  (1)  year,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment. 
The  juvenile  court  shall  have  exclusive  original  jurisdiction  in 
all  such  cases,  proceedings  in  which  shall  be  in  the  manner  of 
cases  for  misdem.eanors  in  the  justice  of  peace  court;  provided, 
that  if  the  act  contributing  to  the  delinquency  of  the  child  shall 
of  itself  constitute  a  felony  under  the  laws  of  the  state,  the  per¬ 
son  charged  with  the  act  shall  be  remanded  by  the  juvenile  court 
to  the  district  court  for  trial.  The  juvenile  court  may  impose 
conditions  upon  any  person  found  guilty  under  this  section,  and 
so  long  as  such  person  shall  comply  therewith  to  the  satisfac¬ 
tion  of  the  court  the  sentence  imposed  may  be  suspended. 

c.  Juvenile  Dependency. 

Section  26.  When  the  charge  of  dependency,  as  defined  in 
Section  11  of  this  act,  is  brought  against  a  child,  the  child  shall 
be  brought  before  the  juvenile  court,  or  where  this  is  impracti¬ 
cable,  the  representative  of  the  child,  whereupon  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  said  court  to  investigate  the  facts  and  ascertain  whether 
said  child  is  a  dependent  child,  its  residence,  and  as  far  as  pos¬ 
sible  the  whereabouts  of  the  parents,  guardian  or  nearest  adult 
relatives;  when  and  how  long  the  child  has  been  maintained,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  by  public  or  by  private  charity ;  the  occupation 
of  the  parents,  if  living;  whether  they  are  supported  by  the  public 
or  have  abandoned  the  child ;  and  to  ascertain  as  far  as  possible,  if 
the  child  is  found  dependent,  the  causes  thereof.  In  case  one  or 
both  parents  of  the  child  appear  in  court  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
judge  to  explain  to  the  one  so  appearing  the  effect  of  an  order 
of  court  declaring  the  child  to  be  dependent.  In  case  any  de¬ 
pendent  child  is  taken  away  from  its  parent,  parents,  or  guardian 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  such  parent,  parents,  nr  guard¬ 
ian  shall  thereafter  have  no  rights  over  or  to  the  custody,  services, 
or  earnings  of  said  child,  except  upon  such  conditions,  in  the 
interests  of  such  child,  as  the  court  may  impose,  or  where  upon 
proper  proceedings  such  child  may  be  lawfully  restored  to  the 
parents  or  guardian. 

Section  27.  When  any  child  shall  be  found  to  be  a  depend¬ 
ent  child  as  defined  in  Section  11  of  this  act,  it  shall  be  encum¬ 
bent  upon  the  court  to  take  such  steps  as  shall,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  court,  best  alleviate  the  conditions,  physical,  intellectual, 
and  moral,  of  such  child.  Ifi.the  court  deems  further  stay,  under 
such  restrictions  as  may  be  imposed,  in  the  child’s  own  home,  if 


PROPOSED  LAW  PRESENTED. 


115 


it  has  one,  or  in  a  temporary  home  elsewhere,  or  in  any  present 
surroundings,  inadvisable,  the  court  may  recommend  to  the 
State  Board  of  Control  the  commitment  of  the  child  to  the  care 
of  some  reputable  citizen  of  good  moral  character  who  will  adopt 
it  or  act  as  guardian  of  it  or  give  it  a  permanent  home,  or  to 
the  care  of  a  state,  institution  for  dependent  children  or  of  some 
voluntary  institution  or  association  that  will  receive  it,  which 
conforms  to  the  definition  of  such  organization  as  found  in  Sec¬ 
tion  11  of  this  act  and  which  has  been  duly  accredited  as  pro¬ 
vided  in  Section  42  of  this  act;  provided.  First,  no  dependent 
child  shall  be  committed  beyond  its  minority;  Second,  no  com¬ 
mitment  of  a  dependent  child,  whether  defective  or  not,  except 
feeble-minded,  epileptic,  and  insane,  shall  be  made  to  a  state  or 
voluntary  institution,  association,  or  individual  (except  to  such 
individual  on  probation),  except  by  recommendation  of  the 
juvenile  court  or  the  district  court  on  appeal,  to  the  State  Board 
of  Control,  unless  the  child  is  a  ward  of  a  state  institution,  and 
commitment  of  such  dependent  child  shall  not  be  made  except 
such  recommendation  shall  be  approved  by  said  Board,  but  any 
defective  child  who  is  not  dependent  or  delinquent  shall  be  ad¬ 
mitted,  when  eligible  by  law,  to  any  appropriate  institution  that 
will  receive  it  by  making  direct  application  thereto,  or  to  a  state 
institution  by  conforming  to  the  rules  thereof ;  Third,  a  dependent 
child  who  is  not  a  delinquent  child  shall  not  be  committed  to  a 
state  or  voluntary  institution  or  association  for  delinquents; 
Fourth,  a  dependent  child  shall  not  be  committed  to  or  be  received 
by  any  county  asylum  for  the  poor ;  Fifth,  the  delinquency  of  any 
dependent  child  may,  in  the  judgment  of  the  State  Board  of  Con¬ 
trol,  debar  it  from  commitment  to  any  state  or  voluntary  insti¬ 
tution  or  association  for  dependent  children ;  Sixth,  any  dependent 
child  under  sixteen  (16)  years  of  age,  not  eligible  to  some  other 
state  institution,  may  be  committed  to  the  Soldiers’  Orphans’ 
Home, 

Section  28.  The  State  Board  of  Control  shall  fix  upon  a 
sum  to  cover  the  cost  of  a  child’s  maintenance  in  any  state  insti¬ 
tution  primarily  for  dependent  children  or  in  any  voluntary 
institution  as  defined  in  Section  11  of  this  act,  a  sum  to  cover 
the  traveling  expenses  of  a  child  to  a  s-tate  or  voluntary  institu¬ 
tion  or  to  a  family  home  in  which  it  is  placed,  and  a  bonus  for 
the  agency  permanently  placing  a  child  in  a  family  home.  Said 
sums  and  bonus  shall  be  uniform  under  given  conditions  and 
shall  be  paid  by  the  county  in  which  the  child  is  found  dependent 


116 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  ICANSAS. 


to  the  state  or  voluntary  institution  caring  for  the  child  or  the 
agency  placing  the  child. 

d.  Adult  Delinquency  Contributing  to  Juvenile  Dependency. 

Section  29.  In  all  cases  where  any  child  shall  be  a  depend¬ 
ent  child,  as  defined  by  this  act,  the  parent  or  parents,  or  other 
persons  responsible  for  or  by  any  act  causing,  encouraging,  or 
contributing  to  such  dependency,  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misde¬ 
meanor,  and,  upon  trial  and  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  punished 
by  a  fine  in  a  sum  not  to  exceed  one  thousand  (1,000)  dollars  or 
by  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  for  a  period  not  to  exceed  one 
(1)  year,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment;  provided,  that 
if  at  the  hearing  of  the  child  or  at  the  trial  of  the  person  or  per¬ 
sons  responsible  for  the  child,  it  is  shown  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  court  that  such  person  or  persons  are  unable  to  support  said 
child,  such  showing  shall  constitute  grounds  of  innocence  for 
such  time  only  as  such  inability  shall  continue.  The  juvenile 
court  shall  have  exclusive  original  jurisdiction  in  all  such  cases, 
proceedings  in  which  shall  be  in  the  manner  of  cases  for  misde¬ 
meanors  in  the  justice  of  peace  court;  provided,  that  if  the  act, 
or  cause,  or  neglect  contributing  to  the  dependency  of  the  child 
shall  of  itself  constitute  a  felony  under  the  laws  of  the  state, 
the  person  or  persons  charged  with  the  offense  shall  be  remanded 
by  the  juvenile  court  to  the  district  court  for  trial. 

Section  30.  When  any  child  shall  be  found  to  be  a  depend¬ 
ent  child,  as  defined  in  Section  11  of  this  act,  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  probation  officer,  or  in  his  absence  or  non-appointment, 
the  county  attorney,  to  at  once  file  complaint  under  this  act 
against  the  person  or  persons  shown  in  the  examination  of  said 
child  as  probably  responsible  for  the  dependency  of  said  child; 
but  prosecution  shall  begin  at  any  time  on  discovery  of  the  re- 
.  sponsible  person. 

Section  31.  The  court  may  suspend  any  sentence  imposed 
under-  Section  29  of  this  act,  or  release  any  person  sentenced 
under  said  Section  from  custody  on  condition  that  such  person 
shall  furnish  a  good  and  sufficient  bond  or  undertaking  to  the 
people  of  the  State  of  Kansas  in  such  penal  sum,  as  the  court 
shall  determine,  conditioned  for  the  payment  of  such  amount 
as  the  court  may  order,  not  exceeding  twenty-five  (25)  dollars 
per  month  for  each  child,  for  the  support,  care,  and  maintenance 
of  such  child  while  under  the  guardianship  or  in  the  custody  of 
any  individual,  association,  or  institution  to  which  the  child  may 


PROPOSED  LAW  PRESENTED. 


117 


have  been  committed  or  entrusted  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act  concerning  dependent  children. 

Section  32.  The  court  may  also  suspend  any  sentence  im¬ 
posed  under  Section  29  of  this  act,  and  may  permit  any  depend¬ 
ent  child  to  remain  in  the  custody  of  any  such  person  found 
guilty,  upon  conditions  to  be  prescribed  or  imposed  by  the  court, 
as  seem  most  calculated  to  remove  the  cause  of  such  dependency, 
and  while  such  conditions  are  accepted  and  complied  with  by 
any  sufth  person  such  sentence  may  remain  suspended,  and  such 
person  shall  be  considered  on  probation  in  said  court;  in  case  a 
bond  is  given  as  provided  herein,  the  conditions  prescribed  by 
the  court  may  be  made  a  part  of  the  terms  and  conditions  of 
such  bond. 

Section  33.  Upon  the  failure  of  any  such  person  to  comply 
with  the  terms  and  conditions  imposed  by  the  court,  such  bond 
or  the  term  of  probation  may  be  declared  forfeited  and  term¬ 
inated  by  the  court,  and  the  original  sentence  executed  as 
though  it  had  never  been  suspended,  and  the  term  of  any  such 
jail  sentence  imposed  in  any  such  case  shall  commence  from  the 
date  of  the  incarceration  of  any  such  person  after  the  forfeiture 
of  such  bond  or  term  of  probation.  There  shall  be  deducted  from 
any  such  period  of  incarceration  any  part  of  such  sentence  which 
may  have  already  been  served. 

Section  34.  It  shall  not  be  necessary  to  bring  a  separate 
suit  to  recover  the  penalty  of  any  such  bond  so  forfeited,  but 
the  court  may  cause  a  citation  to  issue  to  the  surety  or  sureties 
thereon  requiring  that  he  or  they  appear  at  a  time  named  therein 
by  the  court,  which  time  shall  be  not  less  than  ten  nor  more 
than  twenty  days  from  the  issuance  thereof,  and  show  cause,  if 
any  there  be,  why  judgment  should  not  be  entered  for  the  pen¬ 
alty  of  such  bond  and  execution  issue  for  the  amount  thereof 
against  the  property  of  the  surety  or  sureties  thereon,  as  in  civil 
cases,  and  upon  failure  to  appear  or  failure  to  show  any  such 
sufficient  cause  the  court  shall  enter  judgment  in  behalf  of  the 
people  of  the  State  of  Kansas  against  such  surety  or  sureties. 
Any  moneys  collected  or  paid  upon  any  such  execution  or  in 
any  case  upon  said  bond  shall  be  turned  over  to  the  county  treas¬ 
urer  of  the  county  in  which  said  bond  is  given,  to  be  applied  to 
the  care  and  maintenance  of  the  child  or  children  for  whose  de¬ 
pendency  such  conviction  was  had,  in  such  manner  and  upon  such 
terms  as  the  juvenile  court  may  direct;  provided,  that  if  it  shall 


118 


THE  JUVENILE  COUHT  SYSTEM  OF  KANSAS. 


not  be  necessary  in  the  opinion  of  the  court  to  use  such  fund  or 
any  part  thereof  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  such  child, 
the  same  shall  be  paid  into  the  county  treasury  and  become  a 
part  of  the  funds  of  such  county. 

Article  IV.  Detention  of  Children. 

Section  35.  No  child  under  sixteen  (16)  years  of  age  shall 
under  any  circumstances  be  incarcerated  in  any  prison,  com¬ 
mon  jail,  or  lock-up,  and  any  officer  or  person  violating  fhis  pro¬ 
vision  of  this  act  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  on  con¬ 
viction  thereof,  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  in  a  sum  not  to  ex¬ 
ceed  one  hundred  (100)  dollars  or  by  imprisonment  in  the  county 
jail  for  a  period  not  to  exceed  three  (3)  months  or  by  both  such 
fine  and  imprisonment. 

Section  36.  In  counties  having  a  population  of  over  40,000, 
according  to  the  latest  census,  whether  federal  or  state,  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  to  build 
or  purchase,  or  to  rent  or  lease  for  not  to  exceed  five  years 
for  any  one  period,  a  suitable  and  convenient  house  for  the 
purpose  of  caring  for  dependent  or  delinquent  children  as  defined 
by  this  act,  whom  it  may  be  necessary  to  incarcerate  or  hold  in 
custody  by  virtue  of  the  order,  warrant,  or  direction  of  any  court 
having  jurisdiction  of  such  children,  or  by  virtue  of  an  arrest 
by  any  officer  of  such  court.  Said  house  shall  be  known  as  the 
Detention  Home,  shall  be  located  at  the  county  seat,  but  entirely 
removed  and  separated  from  any  jail,  shall  be  provided  and 
maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  county,  and  shall  be  so  arranged, 
furnished,  and  conducted  that,  as  near  as  practicable  for  their 
safe  custody,  the  inmates  thereof  shall  be  cared  for  as  in  a 
family  home  and  public  school.  Said  inmates  shall  be  deemed 
probationers  of  the  juvenile  court  and  shall  be  subject  to  its 
orders. 

Section  37.  The  employees  provided  for  and  selected  to 
control  and  manage  said  Detention  Home  shall  consist  of  a  man 
and  woman,  who  are  husband  and  wife,  of  good  moral  character, 
who  shall  be  respectively  designated  as  “Superintendent”  and 
“Matron”  of  the  Detention  Home,  and  shall  reside  therein,  and 
at  least  one  of  whom  shall  be  competent  to  teach  and  instruct 
children  in  branches  of  education  similar  to  those  embraced  in 
the  curriculum  of  the  public  schools  of  the  city  up  to  and  includ¬ 
ing  the  eighth  grade.  Other  employees  shall  be  such  help  or 


PROPOSED  LAW  PRESENTED. 


119 


assistance  as  in  the  opinion  of  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court 
shall  be  necessary  to  the  proper  care  and  maintenance  of  such 
Home. 

Section  38.  The  superintendent  and  matron  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  juvenile  court  of  the  county,  provided  such 
appointment  shall  be  first  submitted  to  the  State  Board  of  Con¬ 
trol  for  its  approval  as  to  the  qualifications  of  the  appointees.  It 
shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Board  to  approve  or  disapprove  such 
appointment  within  fifteen  (15)  days  after  the  submission 
thereof ;  such  appointment  shall  be  considered  approved  in  case 
the  said  Board  shall  fail  within  said  time  to  take  any  action 
thereon.  The  superintendent  and  matron  shall  jointly  receive  a 
salary  of  one  thousand  (1,000)  dollars  per  year,  payable  in  equal 
monthly  installments  in  the  manner  provided  for  other  county 
officers.  All  other  necessary  employees  for  the  conduct,  care,  and 
maintenance  of  said  Home  shall  be  appointed  by  the  juvenile 
court  upon  such  salary  as  may  be  determined  by  the  Board  of 
County  Commissioners.  Every  employee  of  such  Detention  Home 
appointed  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  this  act  may  hold  his 
office  until  removed-  by  the  juvenile  court,  but  removal  shall  be 
for  cause  only.  Inefficiency  or  failure  to  act  in  accordance  with 
the  instructions  of  the  court  or  the  discontinuance  of  the  duties 
for  which  such  employee  was  employed  shall  constitute  cause  for 
removal,  but  in  any  case  such  employee  may  appeal  from  the 
court’s  action  of  removal  to  the  State  Board  of  Control,  and  the 
decision  of  said  Board  shall  be  final;  provided,  that  the  resig¬ 
nation  or  removal  of  either  the  superintendent  or  matron  shall 
require  the  resignation  or  removal  of  both. 

Section  39.  The  Detention  Home  shall  be  supplied  with  all 
necessary  and  convenient  facilities  for  the  care  of  the  inmates 
as  herein  provided.  The  supplies  or  repairs  necessary  to  main¬ 
tain,  operate,  and  conduct  the  Detention  Home  shall  be  furnished 
upon  the  requisition  of  its  superintendent  upon  the  Board  of 
County  Commissioners,  and  the  bills  therefor  shall  be  audited, 
passed  upon,  and  paid  as  other  bills  for  supplies  for  the  institu¬ 
tions  of  such  county. 

Section  40.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  superintendent  of 
said  Detention  Home  to  keep  a  complete  record  of  all  children 
committed  thereto,  which  record  shall  contain  the  name,  resi¬ 
dence,  address,  and  age  of  each  child,  and  the  cause  or  reason  of 
its  detention,  the  length  of  time  detained,  the  offense  alleged  to 
have  been  committed  by  said  child,  if  any,  and  any  other  useful 


120 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  SYSTEM  OF  ICANSAS. 


data  or  information  that  may  be  directed  to  be  kept  by  the  State 
Board  of  Control.  A  record  shall  also  be  kept  by  such  super¬ 
intendent  of  all  expenditures  made  by  the  county  for  the  care 
and  maintenance  of  such  Home.  An  annual  report  to  the  State 
Board  of  Control  shall  be  made  between  the  first  and  fifteenth 
days  of  July  by  the  superintendent,  on  blanks  furnished  by  said 
Board,  which  shall  contain  the  data  concerning  the  inmates 
and  expenditures  mentioned  above  in  this  section  and  such  other 
as  may  be  required  by  said  Board.  The  judge  of  the  juvenile 
court  may  at  any  time  demand,  in  which  case  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  superintendent  to  furnish,  such  information  as  said  court 
may  require  concerning  the  conduct,  maintenance,  or  inmates 
of  the  Detention  Home. 

Section  41.  In  counties  having  a  population  of  less  than 
40,000,  according  to  the  latest  census,  whether  federal  or  state, 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  with  the 
approval  of  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  to  contract  at 
the  beginning  of  each  fiscal  year  for  one  year  with  the 
head  of  a  good  family  home,  when  possible  the  probation 
officer,  to  care  for  in  his  home  all  probationers  of  the  court 
requiring  detention  not  otherwise  provided,  at  a  rate  per  child 
per  day  mutually  agreed  upon;  provided,  that  nothing  in  this 
section  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prevent  the  Board  of  County 
Commissioners  of  any  county  from  establishing  a  Detention 
Home  subject  to  the  provisions  of  this  act  concerning  said  Home. 

Article  V.  State  Supervision  of  Child-Saving  Agencies. 

Section  42.  All  institutions  and  associations  receiving  chil¬ 
dren  under  this  act  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  visitation, 
inspection,  and  supervision  by  the  State  Board  of  Control,  as  are 
the  public  charitable  institutions  of  this  state,  and  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  said  Board  to  pass  annually  upon  the  fitness  of  any 
institution  or  association  which  may  receive  or  desire  to  receive, 
any  child  or  children  under  the  provisions  of  this  act.  Every 
such  institution  and  association  shall  file  with  the  State  Board 
of  Control  an  annual  written  report,  which  shall  include  a  state¬ 
ment  of  the  number  of  children  cared  for  during  the  year,  the 
number  received,  the  number  placed  in  homes,  the  number  having 
died,  the  number  returned  to  friends ;  also  a  financial  statement, 
showing  the  receipts  and  disbursements  of  the  institution  or  asso¬ 
ciation.  The  statements  of  receipts  shall  indicate  the  amounts 


PROPOSED  LAW  PRESENTED. 


121 


received  from  public  funds,  the  amounts  received  from  dona¬ 
tions,  and  the  amounts  received  from  other  sources,  specifying 
the  several  sources.  The  statements  of  disbursements  shall  show 
the  amounts  expended  for  salaries  and  other  expenses,  specifying 
the  same ;  the  amounts  expended  for  lands,  buildings,  and  invest¬ 
ments.  Such  other  facts  as  the  said  Board  may  require  shall 
be  included  in  such  annual  report.  The  State  Board  of  Control 
may  also  require  at  any  time  during  the  year  from  any  such 
institution  or  association  a  written  statement  respecting  any^ 
phase  or  condition  of  such  institution  or  association.  The  secre¬ 
tary  of  the  State  Board  of  Control  shall  furnish  to  the  judge  of 
the  juvenile  court  of  each  county  a  list  of  accredited  institutions 
and  associations  with  a  tabulated  report  thereof,  and  no  child 
shall  be  committed  or  recommended  for  commitment  to  the  care 
of  any  institution  or  association  which  shall  not  have  filed  the 
written  report  for  the  fiscal  year  last  preceding  with  the  State 
Board  of  Control  as  herein  provided,  and  otherwise  satisfied  said 
Board  of  its  competency  and  adequate  facilities  to  care  for  such 
child.  Any  individual  receiving  a  child  or  childen  under  this 
act  shall  be  subject  to  such  visitation  and  inspection  of  the  State 
Board  of  Control  as  seems  best  for  the  interests  of  such  child  or 
children.  All  county  Detention  Homes  provided  for  by  this  act 
shall  be  subject  to  the  visitation  and  inspection  of  the  State  Board 
of  Control. 

Article  VI.  General  Provisions. 

Section  43.  Any  official  who  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  per¬ 
form  the  duties  imposed  by  this  act  or  in  any  way  to  comply  with 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misde¬ 
meanor  and  on  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine 
in  a  sum  not  to  exceed  one  hundred  (100)  dollars  or  by  impris¬ 
onment  in  the  county  jail  for  a  period  not  to  exceed  three  (3) 
months,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment. 

Section  44.  This  act  shall  be  liberally  construed,  to  the  end 
that  its  purposes  may  be  carried  out,  to  wit,  that  the  care,  custody 
and  discipline  of  a  child  shall  approximate,  as  nearly  as  may  be 
proper,  parental  care;  and  in  all  cases  where  the  same  can  be 
properly  done,  that  a  child  may  be  placed  in  an  approved  family 
home,  by  legal  adoption  or  otherwise.  And  in  no  case  shall  any 
proceedings,  order,  or  judgment  of  the  juvenile  court,  in  cases 
coming  within  the  purview  qf  this  act,  be  deemed  or  held  to 


122 


THE  JUVENILE  OOURT  SYSTEM  OF  I^JUSTSAS. 


import  a  criminal  act  on  the  part  of  any  child ;  but  all  such  pro¬ 
ceedings,  orders,  and  judgments  shall  be  deemed  to  have  been 
taken  and  done  in  the  exercise  of  the  parental  power  of  the 
state. 

Section  45.  That  Chapter  190  of  the  Session  Laws  of  1905 
entitled  “An  Act  to  establish  a  juvenile  court  and  provide  for 
the  care  of  dependent,  neglected  and  delinquent  children,”  and 
Sections  2300,  4194,  4199,  4200,  4201,  4208,  4210,  4211,  4213, 
4214,  4406,  7122,  7123,  7124,  7125,  7136,  7146,  7147,  7148,  and 
•7156  of  the  General  Statutes  of  Kansas  of  1901,  Section  4,  Chap¬ 
ter  423  of  the  Session  Laws  of  1903,  and  Chapter  385  of  the 
Session  Laws  of  1905,  and  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  in  conflict 
herewith  are  hereby  repealed. 

Section  46.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from 
and  after  its  publication  in  the  official  state  paper. 


i 


•  I 


Paflphlets 


L46269 

vol.70 

DATE 

ISSUED  TO 

4 

-  .  7o 

IfPK  RUZtCKA 

OKBtNDCRS 

i.Tli*eRt.*tr 

tlttSBORO.hr 

gHiNcrDK.n  r 


